PKR reclaim their throne

Photo by: TEP PHANY
Preah Khan Reach’s Olisa Onyemerea shoots at goal during the match against Post Tel.

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 10 August 2009
Andy Brouwer

Preah Khan Reach thump Post Tel 4-1 Sunday to climb back atop the CPL

THE importance of the foreign contingent of players in the Cambodian Premier League (CPL) was vividly illustrated in Saturday's only game at the Olympic Stadium. It was Preah Khan Reach (PKR)'s chance to go back to the top of the table, and they seized it with both hands courtesy of their three African dynamos, who claimed the goals and dominated the action. Post Tel were no pushovers, but they had no answer to the strength and power of Nigerian trio Michael Ekene, Olisa Onyemerea and Zila Seidu.

Ikenwa opened the floodgates on 19 minutes when he headed in Samel Nasa's corner unopposed, in a sign of things to come.

The hothouse conditions affected both teams as the game slowed to a snail's pace, with a couple of long-range efforts from Post Tel causing little concern. Offensively, PKR looked capable of scoring at will, but they had to wait for their second goal, which finally arrived on the stroke of halftime. Onyemerea delivered a precise pass through the middle to Ekene, who took it in his stride and easily beat the keeper with his finish.

Paying for missed chances
Post Tel made a fist of it at the start of the second half; Amarachi Onyeahiri and Gafar Durosinmi should have done better with their gilt-edged opportunities.

Instead it was PKR who found the target on 64 minutes, when dominant centre half Zila Seidu moving upfield for a Samel Nasa corner, planting his header firmly through a static Post Tel defence.

With substitutions disrupting the flow and the afternoon sun taking its toll, the game was petering out until a frantic last couple of minutes. Ekene robbed defender Mam Visann and lashed a fourth goal high into the roof of the net. Post Tel's Henri Bitga then converted a penalty to give the game's 4-1 scoreline a modicum of respectability.

With this result, PKR reclaim their top spot from Phnom Penh Crown, who can go ahead once more with a win against Khemara Keila this coming Wednesday.