Something had to give as two 100% teams, Corinthians & DBFC, faced off at Tin Yip Road. Playing in their familiar late afternoon slot, it was DB who came out the game with their 100% record still intact as a Kafi Harun brace and Dzadu Kouko Agbeko strike cancelled out Michael Symonds for Corinthians. The game itself saw Corinthians take the lead when their “long ball tactics paid off” before a keeper error saw DB level the scores at 1-1 going into half time. The game however changed 5 minutes into the second half when Corinthians had a man sent off for handball but the resulting penalty was saved to keep the scores level. However the numerical advantage took its toll on a hot afternoon and DB had too much in the end. Post-match reports commented on theatricals from both teams!!
J-Leaguers also found their 100% record go as they came back from 1-0 to draw with Tropics at Happy Valley. Playing into the sun J-Leaguers had more of the ball in the first half but a well-organized Tropics kept any shot at goal from at least 20 yards with the Japanese never seeing the bloodshot eyes of Haddows #1 wine expert Coco Bilbey. The second half however was a different affair as Tropics, now playing with the sun behind them, pressed further up the pitch and took a deserved lead when a towering header from midfield was controlled and flicked onto the onrushing Kyle Wagner who deftly lobbed the keeper. With 12 minutes to go Tropics could almost taste the 3 points in their post-match beer but a few minutes later Masayuki Sakai equalized from a poorly defended free kick into the box.
USRC and HK Scottish are still looking for their first win after they played out an entertaining draw on Friday night. In what has been described as a “fantastic game of football played end to end in a great spirit” HK Stags probably deserved their point for the way they battled and threw bodies in the way of everything but, also given the chances USRC created, they’re disappointed not to take all 3 points. Scorers from USRC - Marcello Vastola while Alexander-James Reus netted for Stags.
Soho Spartans showed they’re not here to make up the numbers in Division 1 when they took a surprise scalp of Forward 2-1. It was an up and down battle with both teams taking control at varying stages with Soho’s taking an early lead through Li Yongsen in a nice passing move. John Keane for Soho’s and Asaif Premji for Forward cancelled each other out but it back to Flaming Frango’s for Soho’s with all 3 points in their back pocket.
It seems that Steph Kelly is the weak link in the Spartans dugout as at the fourth attempt of asking they are once again enjoying life after a convincing win against a competitive Krauts side. Player manager Pete Soloman’s strike against the bar in the first 5 minutes set the tone as after an even first half Spartans ran away with the game 5-1 through goals from Jorge Rodrigues x 2, Ben Walters, Stevie Lynch, Philip Bracker with the Germans conciliation goal coming from Nathan who found out a few days later does have a surname “Ho”.
Goodfellas got their first win but were made to work hard as they let a two goal lead slip. Two first half goals from corners via Cedric Couble & Rob Milnes had put Goodfellas on easy street but Bants came roaring back in a spirited second half via P Au and W Lee (I assume they have actual first names). Bants however were undone and will probably feel they should have taken a point but an Isaak Pyrillis strike gave Goodfellas the win. It was a game described as a “great game for the neutral” but I’m not sure how many “neutrals” hang about Happy Valley at 1pm to watch the Legal League.
Week 4 in Division 2 saw San Pells maintain their 100% record as they dispatched a depleted Revolution side 4-1. San Pells were quicker out of the blocks, first to every ball and deservedly took a 3-0 lead in to half time thanks to goals from Robert Johnston, Reid Bailey and Charlie Clack. Revo showed some heart 2nd half and pulled one back through Chris Marshall but a further goal for San Pells scored by Gary Pratt after a great ball in from the left sealed the win. Revo hit the post and the bar and on another day may have nicked something but in truth that would have been robbery from a game where ultimately the scoreline didn’t flatter the victors.
BOCs took on Vikings in the day’s early kick off with both sides searching for their first points of the season. The temperature was high both on and off the pitch as Vikings saw one of their players dismissed, picking up a 2nd yellow for dissent. This did not affect the outcome of the game however with Vikings running out deserved 3-1 winners.
Shui Wei have started the season well and moved on to 9 points with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Young Guns. Not much to reference from the match report other than goals scored by Eric Keck, Alex Ng and Evan Forrester.
Another side with 3 wins out of 4 is Wanchai Wolves who battled past Old Speckled Men by the odd goal in 5. In a game full of quality, John In scored with a bullet and Robin White curled home a beauty for Wolves with their other goal coming from Jeremy Lim. The outcome could have been more comfortable but for a point blank wonder save made by OSM keeper.
Monday night saw 18 goals scored over the 3 matches with KCC Cavs bagging the lions share after their 6-1 demolition of Legal Head. The young Cavs side look a force to be reckoned with and have now won their opening 3 games, scoring 17 goals in the process. Chan Ming Kong got 2 this week with the others shared out between Nikhil Narwani, Jeh Vaswani, Dinesh Dayaram and Harry Tse. Legal Head kept battling to the end and got some reward through Jamie Kelly’s tenacity but ultimately were outran by their fitter opponents.
Dragon Valley are another team full of goals and so it proved as they were at their clinical best to complete a 3-0 success over KCC Royals. Having weathered a Royal storm for the first hour, DV took the lead when Dave Reid scored following a corner. In the wet conditions, the bus was well and truly parked with breakaway goals from Matt Adamberry and Paul Martin giving the final result a gloss that seemed harsh on a Royals side that were just not able to make the most of their opportunities.
In what turned out to be the game of the weekend, Samurai Blue got off the mark with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Shooters. Sam Blue went 2-0 up with excellent long range strikes from Chris Corcoroan and Ravi Sukhwani. Shooters are known for their never-say-die attitude and it was evident again here as they came back to lead 3-2 mid-way through the 2nd half thanks to Yasumitsu Mano, Toshiyuku Nishil and Hiroshi Uehara. That was not the end of the drama though as the pendulum swung once more and Sam Blue bagged 3 more goals with Chris Corcoran completing his hat-trick and Younes Aboubker finishing off a sweeping counter attack to claim all 3 points.
