4. Trying to find a spark

 The next three matches

As I drove into training the day after the Bati Youth defeat I passed a local high school. As the teenagers crossed the road and hung around the school gates, the nightmare of my opening defeat came flooding back, as their youthful striker, Oudoum wheeled away in jubilation at scoring the winner. The celebration had been accompanied by whoops of delight and that sort of immaturity that only 16/17 year olds do on a football field. (If you watch any U19s or U17s football you'll probably know what I mean.)

So, to the next game, a team against men, one of the biggest teams in Cambodia and as they are also based in the capital, a local derby against Phnom Penh Crown

Game 2- EDC v Phnom Penh Crown (H) 02/08/20

Pre Match Thoughts

After the defeat against Bati Youth I cannot take this league lightly. Although we were very unlucky to lose, the FM gods were not on my side, even on my debut game. Crown sit 5^th in the table and look as though they can play. They have a decent South African striker, Booyens up front and a Colombian by the name of Monteiro  on the wing amongst others who look a whole lot better than my lot... I really don’t hold out much hope for this one and will play a cautious mentality with 2 DMCs sitting in a solid 4-2-3-1 formation. Chetra comes in on the left wing to show me what he can do after a good week in training, while Saray starts behind the lone striker, Chanraksmey. Fingers crossed we keep the score down in this one. On a sidenote I also make my debut on BTV Cambodia, as this match will be televised.

Phnom Penh Crown 1-1                                                                                         EDC

                   Shirota  59                                                                                                                            Saray 28

A point against the team who are 5^th in the league., I’ll take this! The game started badly as our best attacking player, Suon Veasna hobbled off injured and was replaced by the youngster, Ouch Udom, with Saray moving to right wing. Phnom Penh Crown have a few foreign stars, but for large parts of the game our bunch of 11 semi pro Cambodians kept them at bay. Shockingly we took the lead as Chanraksmy got in behind the defence before floating a lovely ball to the far post where Tum Saray smacked it into the top corner with an acrobatic volley Cristiano Ronaldo would have been proud of. Then, amazingly, the game just ticked along until half time with our lead still in tact. In the second half the inevitable pressure from the home side materialised and a free header by their Japanese defender, Shirota from a corner levelled the scores. However we held strong and kept a very good defensive shape. We could have almost won it when on a breakaway from defending a corner, the ball landed at the feet of defensive midfielder Nan Punlok, who could only find the defender when an easy through ball was on to the onrushing Chanraksmy. Never mind I’ll take the point. 

Game 3- National Defence (H) 

08/08/20

Pre Match Thoughts

As the above graphic suggests EDC stand a cat in hell’s chance of a result here. However, National Defence sit only 2 places above me and despite having a lost Brazilian upfront, Romario and a very useful looking South Korean you just never know. Chan Dara replaces our 15 year old left back. He is 34 and have gone for experience. Oudom comes in at AMC with a recovering Veasna on the bench.

EDC 1- 0 National Defence

                   Chanraksmy 60 (pen)

Whoop Whoop our first win! No it wasn’t pretty and had to grind this one out. While we may lack quality we lack nothing in fighting sprit, toughness and togetherness. The first half was evenly matched with both sides trading blows, but Daravon and Makara in the heart of the defence were first to every ball and their Brazilian, Romario looked very lost and was eventually substituted in the second half; a shadow of his more illustrious namesake. It was 0-0 at half time. My only concern was Chanraksmey looked a bit isolated up front, so Saray and Chetra were pushed up alongside him to try and give him some support. On the hour our lone striker was upended in the box from a free kick and he duly got up and calmly slotted the penalty past their keeper, sending him the wrong way. Soon after National Defence won a corner and hit the bar but seldom came close apart from that, with our keeper Kong Rafat barely making a save. Sengdara came on as a sub, back after his ban and went close with a long range effort, as we kept the ball superbly in the dying minutes of the game to secure the win. 

Game 4- Vishaka v EDC – 15/08/20

Pre-Match Thoughts

Like the previous game against National Defence I do not hold out much hope of a result here. Our hosts sit in 5^th place and looking through their team have a talented contingent of escaped North Koreans to contain, plus an experienced Croatian striker, Mihaljevic, who has somehow ended up in Cambodia via stints in Poland and Bulgaria. Having seen our resilience against stronger opposition in the last 2 games we have a chance if we work hard.

 EDC 2-3 Vishaka

    Chetra 30, Punlock 49  Pak Song Chul 59                                                          Keo Sokpheng 69,                                                       Choe Meong Ho 81       

Where to start? Vishaka begin the game well and win a penalty, Mihalevic though pulls the ball wide. Then, Saray drifts in from the right flank and plays a delicious through ball for Chanraksmey to force a fine save from their goalkeeper, Nhem Polroth. From the resulting corner, Suray drifts it in to be met by Hem Chetra who leapt like a salmon to head home, giving us a shock 1-0 lead, which is how it stayed until the interval. At half time I told them to keep up the good work. Then, 4 minutes into the second half, our veteran striker, Choum Chum held up the ball before laying off to the onrushing Nan Punlock who unleashed a stunning piledriver into the bottom corner and EDC were together in Electric Dreams! However, this only seemed to galvanise Vishaka, who were beginning to look more and more dangerous as their North Korean contingent began to pick up the ball and run with it. Ri Hyok Chol on the left wing was finding too much space, against our young right back, Theara. His pass found his compatriot, Pak Song Chol who fired in an unstoppable angled shot past Kong Rafat for 2-1. The comeback was on. Then, Keo Sokpheng drifted in unmarked from the right to equalise after another raid down the left. EDC hearts were broken when Choe Myong Ho won the game for Vishaka with a 25 yard strike into the top corner, pouring water over EDC’s charges. Not too disheartened in that it shows we can compete with the bigger C-League teams, but it is never nice to lose from a 2-0 winning position.

 So a win, a draw and a defeat in my last three matches. It could have been worse, could have been better. However with a relegation six pointer next up against the team directly below us, Solitio Ankhor, can EDC stave off their relegation fears once and for all?

Click Here for Part 5 - A Relegation 6-pointer