For Hun Sen Cup winners Preah Khan Reach, this year’s Metfone C-League season has been a topsy turvy affair. Unable to maintain their known level of consistency, coach Rith Dikar’s men were humbled 3-1 by Ministry of National Defence at Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

The emphatic victory for MND took the side to the top of the leader board overnight with 18 points, one ahead of Phnom Penh Crown, who have two games in hand. PKR have 15 point and are currently placed fourth in the table.

The Military Police backed side was so hopelessly foot-tied in the contest that striker Khuon Laboravy’s 81st minute goal was a poor consolation after MND had taken an assailing 3-0 lead.

The Army unit stuck admirably to a sound plan of action  and never quite let the initiative slip after storming into an eighth minute lead.

But for a few PKR break-ins, MND made the first half their own. It was Phong Soksana who nailed the side’s bright colours to the mast early in the game.

Before the breather, the Army’s men cushioned their lead when Plong Chanthou was bang on target.

While MND were pursuing their mission with great zeal, PKR were finding the going real tough. It came as no surprise when persistent Army pressure brought them their third goal thorugh Chhin Choeun in the 58th minute, and the game was as good as lost for PKR.

One last ditch effort by hard working Khuon Laboravy brought a momentary cheer in the PKR camp, but the side had fallen woefully short of time and had  left themselves too much of ground to cover.

BBU turn over Rithy Sen

Rock bottom Rithy Sen failed to make their early lead count, as Build Bright United hit back strongly to eke out a 2-1 victory in Saturday’s earlier kick-off.

The University backed side fell foul to the guiles of Math Rofazy, as the midfielder fashioned the underdogs’ first strike in the 28th minute.

But the provincial side looking for their first win in the top tier were quickly forced against the wall when Om Chandara found the BBU equaliser minutes before the interval.

In a second half of even chances, Rithy Sen were gifted a numerical advantage when BBU defender Nhim Sovanara picked up two yellow cards in a 14-minute span. His 50th minute departure opened new avenues for the Kampong Chhnang outfit, but they found it hard to crack the BBU backline.

As the contest meandered towards an inevitable stalemate, substitute Ny Chinan came up with the game changer in the 81st minute to help BBU grab all three points.

With the first leg of nine games completed, BBU have 13 points while Rithy Sen are at the wrong end of the table with just two points.