RHB Singapore Cup: Lappe Lappe brace eases Crown through
Ko Po Hui
info@sleague.com
Jean Lappe Lappe grabbed a brace for Phnom Penh Crown as they moved into the RHB Singapore Cup quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over the Young Lions on Monday evening.
The result put the newly-crowned Cambodian Cup champions alongside other overseas-based sides such as Bruneian outfit DPMM FC and Bangkok Glass of Thailand in the quarterfinals.
Bangkok Glass will in fact be Phnom Penh Crown’s opponents in the next stage, with the matches scheduled for August.
The match at Jurong West Stadium started in a scrappy manner, as both teams struggled to impose themselves.
Crown, the designated “home” team for the match, gradually gained the upper hand by taking control of the midfield midway in the first half, a development that eventually saw them win the game at the end of the day.
The Cambodians could have gone in front on 20 minutes, if there was someone in the box to take advantage after striker Chan Chaya headed down a Tieng Tiny free-kick amid a confused Young Lions defence.
Five minutes later, Lappe Lappe turned what could have been into reality.
Following his crisp one-two with fellow Cameroonian Oscar Mpoko just outside the box, the striker broke the deadlock by unleashing a low shot past Young Lions custodian Izwan Mahbud.
The Young Lions’ night of misery began afterwards, winger Gabriel Quak Jun Yi squandering a golden opportunity to level the scores in the 37th minute.
Having moved onto the receiving end of Fabian Kwok’s defence-splitting pass from the middle of the park, the 18-year-old sent his shot wide despite having the entire Phnom Penh defence at his mercy.
The Young Lions’ problems were not limited to their lack of shooting powers. Their inability to string decent passes and tendency to lose possession throughout the game cost them dearly as they never looked like recovering.
Coach Terry Pathmanathan was clearly upset as he watched his team fail him, and he did not mince his words as he blasted his charges after the game.
“I can’t think of anything positive out from this game!” said the former national skipper.
“The players failed to hold on to the ball and kept giving away possession to the opponents. That is just wrong.
“We been trying to groom these players (for the SEA Games in December) but they failed to perform, and some of these players aren’t even fit to be at this level as individually, quality is missing.”
Pathmanathan had more reasons to be angry in the second half as his team showed no improvement.
While their opponents were not much better themselves in terms of ability, the Cambodians showed hard work, and they were rewarded with a second goal for Lappe Lappe in the 60th minute.
The striker received the ball from a corner kick, and his snap shot was deflected into goal by a hapless Irwan Shah on the line.
That was enough to propel the defending Cambodian league champions to the second stage for the first time since taking part in this tournament in 2006.
They had suffered a humiliating 1-8 defeat to SAFFC that year, before Sengkang Punggol beat them 4-3 in 2007.
But having lost 0-2 to the Young Lions in last year’s competition, they looked happy to have turned the tables on the Singaporeans this time.
“I think we played well tonight,” said Phnom Penh Crown’s Thai coach Apisit Im Amphai.
“The Young Lions played well too but what they were lacking is experience. They played long passes compared to our short passing game, which worked well for us on this natural (grass) surface.
“Last year we played them on the artificial surface (at Jalan Besar Stadium), so we are happy we played on a field that let us play our game.”
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