6. Phanny's Keeping The Lights On
Phanny Y Rotha is already a legend. I've never asked him what the 'Y' stands for, but in the last match it stood for 'You Beauty!; Brought on for only his second appearance under my regime, he scored what could turn out to be the most important goal of our season. Dara and Chetra deserve some credit for setting up the goal, but Rotha's timing on the run to the far post and his cool finish, squeezing the ball through the eye of the needle between goalkeeper and the upright is the moment of the season so far. Had he missed Solitio Angkhor would have been just one point behind us and with some tricky fixtures coming up against the top teams in the C-League it could have got rather messy. Thanks to Rotha's timely intervention we are four points clear of trouble, but given the undoubted ability of our relegation rivals I would not put it past them to go on a decent run themselves. Therefore it is important we keep picking up points and hope they lose or draw.
Match 6- EDC v National Police
30/08/20
Ello Ello Ello, the National Police are in town, so we’ll have to mind our Ps and Qs. They lie in 5th place in the C-League and once again are smattered with overseas talent, including a globe-trotting Nigerian, Mathew Osa, who has taken the C-League by storm, netting 6 times in 10 games. Daravron & co will have to be on their mettle to contain him. Osa aside I think we can get a result here. They play a very narrow formation, so will revert to a 4-4-2 in order to try and attack them down the flanks, with Veasna and Suray, but maintain solidity in the middle with the defensive minded Nara and Punlock. Chetra misses out with strained knee ligaments, so young prospect, Long Rothserey takes his place on the bench. Otherwise it’s the same team which started the second half against Solitio Angkor.
EDC 3-4 National PoliceChanraksmy 41, 88
Rotha 87 Osa 17,24 Oudom 37 Kumagai 65
We very very nearly pulled off a miracle comeback. At 4-1 down the home fans were leaving the stadium in disgust, but then some electrifying football saw EDC claw it back to 4-3. So lets start from the beginning. Mathew Osa, the globetrotting Nigerian lived up to his rep. The first goal came as he raced onto a flick on before squeezing the ball inside the far post with a fine finish. The second was somewhat fortuitous, as our young full back, Theara attempted a cross which rickashyed off the defender’s legs, was just kept in play before sending Osa racing clear who cheekily dinked it over Kong Rafat for 2-0. Worse was to follow when Srey Odom nodded in a third from a corner, which slid under Rafat’ body. Then, a glimmer of hope when Suray crossed from the left and Chamraksmky found the top corner with a fine header. Kumagai made it 4-1 before we got our act together as Chamranskey played a delicious through ball for sub Rotha to bag his second goal in 2 games. Then, substitute Ouk Ratana crossed for Chanraksmey to glide another header in- 4-3. Unfortunately it was too little too late and EDC could not complete a miracle and now find themselves just 3 points from safety.
A Bit of Staff
Recruitment
Given our
indifferent form in the league I have been trying to scout some players to fill
especially our problem area of right back. The current incumbent, is 16 year
old newegen, Nhem Theara, who is not really ready for first team football and
perhaps should stick to his paper round for now. In the future he may become a
decent player, but at present he is just cannon fodder for any decent left
winger in the C-League. To help with the search for better players I have
signed this guy as a scout. Welcome to EDC, Chea Makara!
Although his
stats aren’t that great, 5-5 in Judging player ability and potential he does
have a Determination of 9 and Discipline of 14 which may be of use as he combs Cambodia for footballing talent.
New U21s Coach
So this is my new U21s coach, as I seek to boost the fortunes of some promising youngsters in my squad. Again he is hardly brilliant but is about the best we can get. Welcome to Electricitie du Cambodge, Nhem Mony Udom!
A Rare win for our Reserves
With no game
for 2 weeks I decided to give a run out to some of the first teamers and fringe
players in the reserves to help boost their fortunes and it worked. They
recorded a 4-3 win over Boeung Ket Reserves. Veteran striker Chum bagged 2 goals
to help give him some much needed confidence, while a promising young striker,
Ouch Samnang scored and new discovery Rotha won the man of the match award.
A good exercise and confidence boost before the relegation scrap re-commences
against 6th place Kirivong. I have also scheduled a ‘Team Bonding’
session to try and bring the squad together before the remaining games.
The feelgood
factor also went to our U21s team who carved out a 1-0 victory over Posenechey
Reserves, with another young striking prospect, Sam Chamrouen netting the only
goal. It also marked Udom’s first match as U21s coach.
Match 7 – EDC v Kirivong
12/09/20
I fancy our
chances in this one somehow, despite them having a decent Guinean striker up front,
Lelouma and the usual contingent of foreign players in the team. I
believe in playing positive football and this is what I aim to do here. Rotha
looks like a real find up front, so he will partner Chanraksmey. Ratana will
replace Theara at right back after showing promise in the last game playing in
a new position that the coaches are training him in, so he can play all across
the back four and solve a problem position for us until the window re-opens to
sign a specialist right full back.
EDC 7-3 Kirivong
What the
hell was going on here? What a performace! Rotha and Chanraksmy set about
dismantling the Kirivong defence with an electrifying display of attacking
football. Think Cole and Yorke against Juventus in '99, or Sheringham and Shearer in Euro '96. On 4 minutes Veasna curled the ball in and Rotha headed in the
opening goal. Then Rotha picked up the ball from just inside the Kirivong half
and ran to the edge of the area before unleashing a shot which slipped under the
body of the keeper. 2-0. Sakai their one threatening player slipped his marker
to race clear from the right wing and slot in goal back, 2-1. Then Rotha
completed his hat trick when he raced clear from a precise through ball from
Dara to slot in the corner. Chanraksmey scored a 4th with a looping
header from a Veasna free kick to make it 4-1 at half time. Chandara headed in from a corner to make it
4-2 on 48 minutes. Then, Ratana crossed in low for Chanraksmy to fire in an
angled shot, 5-2. Makara missed a header to allow Lelouma to run onto the ball
and find Thai left winger Wiang-in to make it 5-3. Punlock won possession in
the midfield and strode forward before sliding in Chanraksmy to fire in EDC’s 6th
into the top corner. Substitute Sedsody,
a midfielder making his first appearance under my tenure delivered a lovely
ball over the top for Rotha to run onto and round off the scoring with a shot
into the corner of the net. Fantastic display and performance. We looked like scoring every time we went forward. A big three points here and in some style too!
EDC continue to keep their heads above water. Phanny Y Rotha has cemented legendary status. Can EDC complete the job of staying up in the C-League, or is there a cruel twist in the tale? Find out next time on the Ultimate World Football Manager Game!
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