For Western Uni.FC the Battle for Survival continues

Standing L-R Boranoch, Privat, Panha, David, Isa,
Front L-R Sombo, Kosal, Sotheara, Seyha, Mol, Sunly

Western Uni.FC's return to the top flight of Cambodia football has not been an easy ride despite the sides good start to the season. The University backed side was granted a wild card entry by the Football Federation of Cambodia following a written proposal by the club management which saw the light of the day.

With limited funds at their disposal and no time for preseason due to the uncertainty of their application being granted until the last minute, the club was marked for relegation by most pundits. 7 games gone, they are presently 9th on the 12 team table with 1 win, 3 draws, and 3 loses leaving them with 6 points, a whopping 10 points from the top of the table and only 2 points clear of relegation.

Western started the season with good results in the Hun sen cup qualification stage which saw them record 3 wins and a lose to make it to the group stage where they failed to progress.

The Hun Sen cup was seen as distraction given the lack of depth in their squad and therefore a blessing in disguised when they were knocked out by loses against Army and BBU.

Western Uni.FC 3-1 Asia Europe University

Coach Meas Samoeurn was able to secure the services of three foreign players before the start of the season, former Boeung Ket FC player Privat Mbarga along with Former Svay Rieng and Kirivong star David Mbarga and Isa Kolawole put pen on paper for the University side.

With champions Svay Rieng  away to Vietnam for an international competition, the golden Lions had to sit out the opening day's fixture and didnt play until the second week when they dispatched Asia Euro
University FC 3-1. It was a great result for the team who had earlier lost to the same opposition by a lone goal in the Hun sen cup.

Western Uni.FC 0-0 Ministry of Defense

Buoyed by that victory, Western University's next opponent was Ministry of Defense team who they lost to by 3-0 in the Hun Sen cup. Western dominated the match but couldnt find the back of the net and both sides settled for 0-0 draw.

Next up came Kirivong Soksenchey, the takeo based team has not really found their form but have been resilient following draw against Naga the previous week. Manager Sothea Lay signed Japanese player Reo Nakamura and Coach Meas Samouern opted to rest Defender Isa Kolawole who was on a yellow card with the next games in mind.

Western Uni.FC 1-1 Kirivong Sok SenChey

The move looked to backfire as Kirivong took the lead in the 20th minute following a defensive miss up between Krouch Mol and Veasna allowing Brazilian Carlos Alberto the space to poke home a long pass. Somehow, Western fought back and  it took an Iniquitous strike from David Njoku to level scores in the 75th minute for a deserved share of the points.

Western remained unbeaten after three games and it was looking like a bright return to the MCL for the University team as they sit mid table with 5 points.

There came some Topsy turvy moments in the Camp of the university backed team and they couldnt reenact the fine form in the following three games.

Western Uni.FC 0-2 Build Bright United

First a 2-0 lose against BBU in the week 4 fixtures was quickly followed by another 2-0 lose to Boeung Ket FC before the league went to a forced break for the completion of the Hun Sen Cup ties.

Western Uni.FC 0-2 Boeung Ket FC

In both games, Western weren't outplayed as the score line may seem to reflect.  In fact, the tie against BBU ended 0-0 in the first half and it was not until the last 10 minutes before BBU got two quick goals to seal the tie. Similarly, Against BKFC, western went into the break trailing from a 19th minute header from Khoun Laboravy and were right in the tie until the last 10 minute when BKFC got their second and sealed up the tie once again.
Coach Meas Samoeurn had 3 weeks to reshape his side and correct the mistakes. Manager Sothea Lay signed up Cote D'ivoire's Goze Brizi Dioundone but the former Morroco league player couldnt be registered because of visa complications. The Combination of Privat and David in midfield and attack was reversed with the Nigerian now dropped to the midfield allowing the cameroonian to play up front.

Up next came Albirex Niigata, the Japanese sponsored team who has remained rock bottom of the table with 6 loses in as many games. It was expected that Western would ride over them with ease but instead the received the shock of their lives as Albrex went on to win 2-1.

Western Uni.FC 1-2 Albirex

On the eve of this epic encounter, a dozen of Western players took part in a Tiger Street football tournament at Koh Pich and paid the price for it. Despite taking the lead in the 60th minute off a header from Oeun Kosal, Western couldnt go on to win all three points, they allowed Albirex to crawl back into the game and scored two late goals inside the last 10 minutes to snatch the 3 points.

Western Uni.FC responded 3 days later as they faced the champions Svay rieng in a rescheduled match. They maintained a tactical discipline at the back for the full 90 minutes, forging forward occasionally in search of a goal and looked to have scored when Oeun Kosal once again timed his run to chip over the on rushing svay Rieng goalkeeper but was ruled for offside. In the end, Western settled for a point to move over rivals Asia Europe University to 9th place.

Western Uni.FC 0-0 Svay Rieng

With 7 games left before the end of the first round, Western has tough ties to come, first they play Tri Asia on Sunday before games against Naga, National Police and Phnom Penh Crown. To get anything out of these games, coach Meas Samoeurn will need to get his tactics and strategy right. Western do not have a rich bench and the squad depth is thin, hence Manager Sothea Lay will need to ensure his players are in the right frame of mind going into this rounds of games.

The target for this season should still remain to ensure they preserve their place in the top flight by avoiding relegation, Realistically, One would expect Western to get 4 points from a possible 12 in the remaining 4 fixtures but with great tactical discipline as shown in some of the games so far, Western could shock more opponents to move up the ladder away to safety.

So far, they have probably the 7th best defense and the 2nd worst attack. It is the attacking option they have been lacking and would need to step up. Coach Meas Samoeurn will need to find the best way to utilize Privat and David to get the best possible result for the team. In fighting within the team on and off the pitch must be well managed by Sothea Lay  and a thorough game plan be orchestrated.