Boeung Ket Rubber’s 4-0 drubbing of bottom-enders Senate Secretariat on Saturday at Olympic Stadium was no more than a glorified workout for the defending Metfone C-League champions, who are heading out next week to take a swipe at the Singapore Cup.

Imagine a goal-scoring machine like Boeung Ket being handed an own goal to begin with, and that was Senate’s pathetic plight when Chun Mesa cleared the ball into his own net 15 minutes into the game.

Armed with that lead, Boeung Ket quickly got going through inform Chan Vathanaka’s strike, and before the break, Keo Sokpheng made it 3-0.  

The nippy striker that he is, 19-year-old Vathanaka was back in business completing his double in the 71st minute. He now joins his team-mate Bisan George as joint top scorer this season with 10 each.

This was Boeung Ket’s 10th straight win after the pride of Kampong Cham swept the first phase of the league season clean with nine wins on the trot to take a sizeable lead in the standings.

Naga, Army tie drawn

Before Boeung Ket’s leisurely victory came a tense 1-1 draw between Naga Corp and Ministry of National Defence. Both sides had strong reasons to believe that it was a case of two points dropped rather than one won.

For more than an hour, it was the Armymen who held the advantage of a Meak Chhordaravuth’s 32nd-minute goal. They had chances to double the lead but were also quite fortunate to defend that slender gain.

It was the 75th-minute dismissal of  midfielder Op Kamol for two yellow card bookings that swung the momentum away from MND. Fully exploiting the situation within minutes of this unexpected twist, Naga found the equaliser through a Teab Vathanak freekick in the 80th minute.

Naga tried desperately hard to find the net again but to no avail.

The tottering MND may have been hoping for a winning outcome but in the end, they were more than happy to pick up a crucial point.

Having trailed the field alongside Senate in the first half of the league season, a draw against one of the heavyweights was after all a good omen for the Army in their revival attempts.

Crown outclass Police

Former champions Phnom Penh Crown were well served by their overseas players in a domineering 3-0 win over National Police Commissary at Old Stadium on Saturday.

Crown monopolised space and possession and it was a 25-yard stinger from South Korean signing Lee Ha Neul that gave them the 26th-minute lead.

A powerful header by Odion Obadin made it 2-0 for Crown before another South Korean, Choi Jae Cheol, stormed off the bench to fire his side’s third goal barely a minute before the end.

On the top of being kept in total check by Crown, the Police were reduced to 10 men 20 minutes from when San Thideth was sent off for his second yellow card.

Svay Rieng scamper home

Striker Khuon Laboravy’s trusted boot gave Svay Rieng FC a full set of three points yesterday as the side scrambled to a 2-1 victory over Build Bright United in an action-packed league tie at Olympic Stadium.

Svay Rieng were riding home merrily on defender Samoeun Pidor’s 67th-minute goal and bang on regulation time Khuon Laboravy doubled the lead.

The timely goal served as a winning buffer for the erstwhile Preah Khan Reach team, as Build Bright United came charging back deep into injury time with a penalty conversion by midfielder Prum Puthsethy.

Svay Rieng goalkeeper Am Sovannarath was less than elegant in his challenge on one of the BBU attackers, leading to the penalty.

For BBU, who had several narrow squeaks to rue about, time was not on their side.

Rain was an unwelcome guest during the first half, which ended goalless. Svay Rieng’s frustrating sequence of spurned chances finally came to an end when Samoeun Pidor moved up with the flow and found himself in the right place at the right time to hammer his side ahead.

A collective gasp of relief went out in the Svay Rieng Camp when BBU’s Seng Kosen agonisingly found his long ranger hit the cross bar after the flight of the ball seemed on course to enter the net. That was the closest BBU could get to before the regulation time.

Kirivong bounce back

A strong second half revival saw Kirivong Sok Sen Chey down a spirited Asia Europe University in yesterday’s second fixture.

The University-backed side shot into a two-goal lead within the first 16 minutes after their new African import, the tongue-twisting Oriola Ogunsanwo, accounted for both the strikes.

Kirivong stumbled upon a penalty a minute before the breather, and Nwakuna Friday stepped in to reduce the margin to 2-1.

In the last 10 minutes of the game, Kirivong shifted to top gear with David Njoku firing one between Savorn Ratanakvisal’s rich double.