Kyrgyz champions knock off Crown

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/

Written by DAN RILEY
Monday, 15 June 2009

CAMBODIAN champions Phnom Penh Crown had their hopes of qualification from the Group stage of the AFC President's Cup dashed Friday when they lost to host nation Kyrgyzstan's Dordoi-Dynamo 3-1.

Eight thousand fans filled the stands of Spartak Stadium in Bishkek to watch the side from Naryn - who have dominated the Kyrgyzstan league, winning the past five seasons - finish strongly over the Cambodian visitors to stay on top of the group table.

After Crown had opened the scoring in the 33rd minute through Cameroonian sensation Jean-Roger Lappe Lappe, Dynamo managed to claw their way back into the game thanks to Ghanaian forward David Tetteh, who netted deep into first-half stoppage time.

Just a minute after the restart, fellow Dynamo striker Mirlan Mirzaev put the Kyrgyz ahead before captain Ruslan Sydykov sealed the win with a strike 12 minutes from time.

Kanbawza 4 Yeedzin 2
In Friday's earlier Group C fixture - played in front of a modest 150 spectators according to the AFC official match report - Bhutan champions Yeedzin FC threw away a two-goal advantage to finish the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline against Myanmar club Kanbawza.

Goals from Pema Chopel and Jigme Tenzin with just a third of the match gone had the Bhutanese seemingly in the driving seat, but an own goal by Yeedzin defender Pema Rinchen on 38 minutes signified a change in the tides. Kanbawza came out firing in the second half, with a brace from in from Soe Min Oo, and another from defender Win Min Htut in the 78th minute that left Yeedzin with a bitter taste after the game.