HK Stags continue to enjoy life in the top division, narrowly edging a weakened USRC side by the odd goal in three in the first game of the weekend. Going into the interval a goal to the good thanks to Myles Winter, a wonderfully struck direct free kick from Lorenzo Gattai doubled their lead in the second period, despite waves of USRC possession. Mike Fry managed to pull a goal back late on but Gunners boss Ferriday admitted his side were second best on the night, complementing the Stags on their team spirit and wishing them well for the season.
Forward maintain the only 100% record in the division and look like early favourites to regain the title, disposing of MES 4-2 on Saturday. Jose Lorenzo clinically opened the scoring, but MES hit back and went in to the break 2-1 up thanks to a quick fire Victor Jansen brace. However, Modou Sanneh took advantage of a goalkeeping change and subsequent error to score from 50 yards in the second half! Golden boy Damien Martinez then put Forward 3-2 up with what their gaffa described as a spectacular side volley and the rout was completed by a second goal from Lorenzo late on.
Club Tropicana went down 3-1 to J-Leaguers with Tropics boss Kev Reid stating Shunske Nakamura was the difference between the two sides. Frenchman Remi Dempalmass was on target again for Tropics, but Nakamura, Okamoto and Yakushigi ensured the Japanese boys won again in a game with scores of chances for both sides, but Tropicana ruing their profligacy in front of goal.
Conflicting reports as to how things panned out in the Cors v DBFC game with the only thing for certain being that the game ended in a stalemate one goal apiece. For his part, Cors boss Manjeet felt they dominated but gifted chances to DB which they could not take, but overall accepting that a point each was a fair result. Conversely, Dave Rollinson felt that Cors just sat in defence and relied on long ball tactics with “one or two of the usual Corinthian leg breaker challenges” thrown in for good measure. Rueban Cramer scored for Cors, all be it via a wicked deflection and despite Rollinson trying to claim Chris Ingham had scored for Disco Bay, it was in fact clearly an own goal.
Spartans boss Stef Kelly had only good things to say about HK Krauts as his team went down 2-1 to last season’s promoted outfit. Taking the lead through a Sascha Cohrs free kick, Ze Germans then took their foot off the gas and allowed the Wanchai boys back in the game as Chris Balka levelled matters. Krauts were once again grateful to their in-form goalkeeper and with weary legs getting the better of Sparts, Max Thiel netted the winner to put his side on a respectable 7 points from four outings back in the top flight.
Last but not least, San P’s got their first win of the season thanks to a 2-0 win against Goodfellas. Neither manager was particularly pleased with some of the challenges during the game, but both agreed than San P’s deserved the win. The three points came courtesy of two great first half strikes from Tom Foster and Rob Johnston. In a closely fought contest, the Fellas had chances but failed to convert leaving them on 6 points in mid table.
In Division 2, Soho Spartans climbed to the top of the table after thrashing new team MBFC 7-3. Yongsen Li, golden boot winner of last season who are now under tough challenge from Lars Nielsen from Vikings this season, scored a hat-trick in their victory. In the meantime, a goal each from Allistar Kanaan, Tom Duffell and Willie Wong together with an own goal added up the tally. Scorers of MBFC were Mao Qiyu with a brace and Park Sung Hyun with a single.
Samurai Blue, after going through a disappointing last season, rushed to a very good start and they are now second in the table after beating The Shooters 3-2 in a tough game. They rushed to an easy 3-goal-lead with goals from Ahmed Jamli, Chow Ho San and Won Wook Kang and when it looked it is all set, The Shooters showed their never-say-die spirit and closed up the gap to 1 goal from 2 direct freekicks from Yasushi Kakizaki and Haruto Matsumoto. They were close to save a point but efforts were denied when the Blues managed to bravely clear off on the goal line.
KCC Royals were another team with impressive performance this season. A brace of goals from Luca Merlone and a goal each from Dan Jacques, Alex McCoy and Paul McGunnigle were good enough to put them ahead of Bants in the 8-goal-thirller. Scorers from Bants were Sam Ameen, Phil Au and Kenny Lam.
Also in Kingspark we saw KCC Cavaliers tumble to Legal Head 1-2. Goals from Prakash Thapa and Amin Ashraf proved to be decisive in their second victory. Chan Ming Kong was the scorer for Cavaliers.
New team Vikings also got a fantastic start after they managed to overcome the challenge by BOCs. The score was 5-3 but it is an easy task to report the scorer for Vikings – all 5 coming from Lars Nielsen! He is now top of the golden boot table and is definitely a man to watch out in coming matches. Jase Lee, Jerry Leung and Lionel Lauhe were the scorers for BOCs
Elsewhere Shui Wei FC clinched a convincing 4-1 victory over Young Guns. Luke Facer banged in the net twice while Nicholas Mills and Jimmy Apollo both did it once for Shui Wei to grant them the second victory. Nicky Lo scored the consolation goal for Young Guns.
Revolution and Shotguns ended up all square at 2-2. It was another tight game with all goals coming in the first half. Chris Marshall and Dinesh Dayaram did the damage for the Revo while Hin Mok did it twice for the Shotguns. Both managers gave a very low rating on the referees.
Last but not least, TWF recorded their second victory after beating Old Speckled Men 4-1. Playmaker Wai Lee made no mistake on the spot to put TWF ahead, while Fung Chan broke the off-side trap twice to build up an easy 3-0 lead before interval. The Old Men woke up in the second half and managed to get a goal back, but Wai Lee scored his second goal in the game to put the game beyond reach.
