“Finally, we’ve won!” was the jubilant cry of the ISI Dangkor Senchey squad as they celebrated an emotional first victory in the Cambodian Premier League (CPL), defeating hosts Royal Cambodian Armed Forces FC at the Old Stadium on Sunday night.
The ISI players sang and danced in delight after the 3-1 victory, after nearly four months of waiting for their first win since the current CPL season began, on August 9.
Kang Sen, the club president, who was present at the match, expressed his joy. He admitted that after seven consecutive losses, he had been disappointed and under immense pressure, almost running out of strategies to keep the team going.
“The team and the Elephants (Domrei Chey) are my beloved — we’ve finally found our first win!” he said, via social media.
“Remember my words — once we start winning, we won’t lose easily again!” he added.
Army FC initially took the lead when Japanese player Kinoshita Reiya scored in the 37th minute. With the goal, many supporters assumed ISI would suffer their eighth straight defeat, since few believed they could break through the Army’s solid defence.
However, the tide turned when striker Ernandes Brono equalised in the 62nd minute, bringing the score to 1–1. Later, returning forward Hav Soknet scored in the 80th minute, and Morn Bunthap sealed the victory with a third goal in stoppage time (90+7’).
This meaningful victory gave ISI their first three points of the season. Although they remain bottom of the table (11th place), team morale has surged and the players are now more determined than ever to continue winning and climb out of the relegation zone.
They have a chance to overtake fellow cellar-dwellers Life FC Sihanoukville for 10th place, after Life FC lost 2–1 to Kirivong Sok Sen Chey on Sunday. Life FC currently have four points, but have played one more match than ISI. Kirivong, in 9th place, have seven points from nine matches, the same number of games as Life FC. This means that with their momentum, ISI could soon challenge for 9th position as well.
