The Phnom Penh Post Mini Soccer championship passes its midway point with five furious football fixtures that see a few previous results avenged

THE second round of the Phnom Penh Post Mini Soccer championship hit the ground running Tuesday, with five teams facing familiar foes in reverse fixtures at the Astroturf pitch of Kidzcool Children & Family Fun Village.

First up were the pink-shirted hosts Kidzcool against the orange-tinted might of Devenco. With both teams struggling to field the required four players on each side, the game proved physically demanding but ultimately rewarding for the exhausted Kidzcool, who gained sweet revenge after an initial loss to Devenco with an 11-9 victory.

Expat Advisory, who had obliterated opponents Infinity 15-1 earlier in the season, were expectant of another drubbing to boost their goal difference. However, the pearly white Insurance squad had other ideas, and looked a completely different side than that of the previous round, most likely because their starting lineup had been turbo-charged. Frustrations were plaguing the Expat’s usually fluid playmaking as attacks were thwarted easily and chances buried by the Infinity frontmen. A comfortable lead at halftime inspired a brief comeback attempt from the black tops, but Infinity managed to keep their noses in front throughout to coast to a 14-9 triumph.

The Phnom Penh Post team had overcome the embarrassment of a virtual no-show last Thursday to give Devenco some slight resistance in the next match. Though few could deny the considerable skills of Devenco’s lads, the Post team were trying their hardest to maintain a modicum of possession and string together some neat passes around their rivals. Having let their tangerine tormentors take a firm grasp on the fixture through some shoddy defending, the Blue shirted journos were less generous in the second period with numerous goal-line heroics restricting the inevitable onslaught to 10-3, a modest improvement from the woeful first leg of 14-1.

Hosts Kidzcool then faced the rejuvenated Infinity in an engrossing and entertaining encounter. Kidzcool captain Eric Delacollette commanded his team competently as ever from the back, but even he was beginning to run out of French profanities when a succession of gilt-edged chances were squandered up front.

However, the pinks were just too pretty for the weary whites as the hosts came off 8-5 to the good and spring themselves up into a semifinals position in the league.

Last tie of the night saw Phnom Penh Post square off with Expat, with the latter eager not to be upset for the second time running. And they were allowed to have their cake in bite-size portions, with the blue-labelled hacks unable to match the work rate of the marauding black-clad clan. Expat recorded a resounding 11-2 win, a mild disappointment for the fast-learning Post who had kept things close previously at 7-5.