Kitchee took advantage of their rivals South China and Sun Pegasus being involved in the Canbo Senior Shield Final to extend their lead at the top of the Hong Kong Football Association Championship First Division standings with a 4-1 victory over BC Rangers.
BC Rangers scored first when Moses Mensa found Lam Hok-hei who fired in.
Kitchee equalised in the 15th minute when a corner from Lam Ka-wai was headed in by Fernando Recio. Jorge Tarres put Kitchee ahead in the 33rd minute to give Kitchee a 2-1 half time lead.
Kitchee extended their lead in the 81st minute when Juan Belencoso scored after receiving a pass from Lo Kwan-yee. The same player completed proceedings when he scored his second and Kitchee’s fourth in added time to seal the 4-1 win.
This means Kitchee, on 28 points, have a 7-point lead over South China and 9-point lead over Sun Pegasus, who have a game in hand over the two leading teams.
In the Canbo Senior Shield Final held at the Hong Kong Government Stadium, Sun Pegasus took the lead in the 12th minute when Admir Rascic pulled the ball back into the penalty box from the right-hand-side, near the corner flag towards the penalty spot, where it was met by a jumping Jaimes Mckee with a flying volley, which flew across the stunned goalkeeper before nestling in the far left-hand corner of the net. Sun Pegasus led 1-0 at half time.
South China eqaulised in the 70th minute when Vincent Weijl played a one-two with new recruit Andrew Barisic, before crossing for South China’s other new recruit Sasa Kajkut, to force the ball home.
After chances for both sides the game was settled in the 74th minute when South China fed the ball to Barisic, who fired a bending shot that flew high into the net past Sun Pegasus goalkeeper Josep Skoric to win the game.
Most lower HKFA teams have again been involved in a cup competition.
Match-Fixing Investigation
Subsequent to last week’s reports of suspicions and investigations of match-fixing involving games played by Tuen Mun and Happy Valley, the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) announced that they had arrested nine people for alleged match-fixing, those being six current players from Happy Valley, an executive officer at the club, a representative of the sponsor and a former player.
In further developments, Tuen Mun Sports Club announced that it had deregistered 11 players.
The HKFA subsequently announced that Tuen Mun and Happy Valley – currently the bottom two teams in the HKFA First Division – had been suspended for a month, which would involve three matches for each. The HKFA also said that this was not a punishment, but to allow the ICAC investigation to be unimpeded.
The HKFA would delay its own panel of inquiry until investigations of the ICAC were complete.
Yau Yee League
The Yau Yee League competition took a break for round three of the cup.
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