Joint leaders Boeung Ket Angkor and Phnom Penh Crown launched their second leg campaigns in the Mefone C League on Saturday with impressive wins over rivals who had somewhat troubled them barely a week ago.

National Police were tantalisingly close to a gutsy win over Boeung Ket, who were saved from that near defeat by Khuon Laboravy’s stoppage-time equaliser. But how quickly that last Sunday’s story got buried at the Army Stadium by Boeung Ket’s decisive 4-1 win yesterday.

Boeung Ket hailed Nigerian import Gbenga Samuel as their hero after his double and two assists left Police in a state of shock from which they never quite recovered.

Tit Dina’s goal, if at all, was a poor consolation.

After scoring twice, Samuel set up the third goal as a gift for Esoh Omogba on his birthday.

A goal from Chan Vathanaka seemed inevitable after Samuel put the talented young hitman in a perfect spot to shoot from.

Following this victory, Boeung Ket remain at the head of the standings on better goal difference in comparison to Crown, who once again saw a healthy bond between their core players completely destroy Svay Rieng 7-1 on home turf at the RSN Stadium.

George Bisan was the destroyer in chief for Crown with a four-goal haul in a game that saw Crown at their ferocious best as if to say loud and clear that the side would not read too much into situations of the kind they faced when they met Svay Rieng away.

Shane Booysen continued to dazzle with a double while Santi Koroma completed the tally.

It was hard to believe that it was the same Crown that had gotten into a spot of bother at Svay Rieng’s stadium after the home side’s audacious goal within the first minute of the game.

It required a determined second-half rally to craft a 3-1 win then, but yesterday Svay Rieng seemed to be chasing shadows, especially after losing Sok Samnang minutes before the break to two yellow cards.

In Saturday’s other matches, home advantage did not matter much for Western who were thrashed 6-1 by Cambodian Tiger FC.

With 10 defeats pushing them down to the bottom of the standings, Kirivong at last enjoyed some cheer in the way of their 2-2 draw against Asia Europe United.