PKR Svay Rieng FC head coach Matt McConkey has warned opposition teams not to underestimate his team after the Cambodian Premier League outfit narrowly missed out on a surprise win over Johor Darul Ta’zim FC in the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ on Thursday.
Stoppage time goals from Shane Lowry and La’Vere Corbin-Ong salvaged a point for a much-changed JDT as the Group B clash in Phnom Penh ended in a 2-2 draw after Cristian Roque and Nhean Sosidan had given McConkey’s side a two-goal lead at halftime.
“I’m very proud of how we played,” said the 32-year-old. “We’ll take a lot from this game in terms of what we need to do to make sure that stays at three points. I think for 80 minutes we were the better team by far, I think we pressed really, really well.
“We forced them to play only long balls. With the ball, in the first half, we could maybe do some things better but in the second half we were very, very good up to until maybe 80 minutes and then we got a bit tired.
“Anyone who watches the game can see that we deserved to win the game, but that’s football.”
The draw moves Svay Rieng onto four points from their first three matches in Group B in the 2025/26 Shopee Cup™ to remain three points behind table-toppers JDT with Bangkok United FC the next visitors to Phnom Penh in January.
“We drew this game so it doesn’t really help us too much in the group,” said McConkey. “We really needed to get the three points but we’re still in the competition so it’s the same as today, we play Bangkok United when they come here and we play to win.”
McConkey felt some of his players were overawed by the Malaysia Super League champions in the opening exchanges but that changed as the match wore on.
“Maybe you felt like they played against the Johor badge and not the Johor players,” he said. “But after that, and especially after halftime and the way we played with the ball, it was outstanding.
“They had to run a lot. I think we reduced a lot of the things that they wanted to do with the ball without pressing. I think you can see we were more than competitive.
“(JDT) made a lot of changes because they have a big schedule, and that’s understandable because they have (AFC) Champions League.
“It’s probably not the strongest Johor that there can be, but any team that wants to come and play us in the future probably won’t underestimate us again.”
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