After finishing 2nd last season USRC had high hopes that this could be their year but they were given a thrashing at the hands of Discovery Bay who have now smashed in 9 goals in their first two games. The 5-1 score line however doesn’t tell the whole story as a tightly contested first half saw DB lead 2-1 at the interval with USRC having hit the frame of the goal from a cracking free kick. The second half however was a different story as DB managed to get the ball on the deck and move it around a USRC team that had several new faces and perhaps who are still to find a settled 11 and where players are best suited. That said USRC player manager Steven "Spear" Cairns said he'll be looking for a significant improvement in their next game cause they "couldn’t really have played much worse". DB scorers Jordon Brow (2), Kafi Harun, Jamie Bone and Daniel Haggarty with the consolation goal for USRC coming from Jamie Hopper.
After last weeks reality check that this season might be tougher ride than last year, Forward got their first win of the season running out 3-1 winners against Wanchai Spartans who have now lost their first two games. Spartans dominated the early proceedings and looked much the strongest and more settled side but it was Forward who pounced on a keeper error to take an early lead. The early goal settled the game resulting in Forward dominating possession for the remainder of the half with Jose Lorenzo latching on to a sublime through ball. Spartans came out fighting in the second half and a Christian Balka solo run and finish saw them get right back in it and they must have felt things were going their way when Forward had to play a large part of the second half with 10 men due to an injury and no subs. However player manager Asaif Premji made the points safe when he converted a free kick in the 60th minute.
Corinthians made it two wins from two when they edged Tropics in a close contest 2-0 thanks to goals from Dan Hackett & Reuben Cramer. The first Corinthians goal came when a curled free kick deep into the Tropics box sailed straight into the top bin evading all heads and got them a lead they probably deserved on the run of play. The second half however was a different affair with Corinthians pegged back for large spells by Tropics who has a golden chance to equalize 10 minutes from the end when the ball was handled by a Cors defender but last season penalty king James Manning had his kick saved with Corinthians scoring a breakaway goal in the final seconds to wrap up a 2-0 victory.
Bants Raptors made their return to Division 1 after several years in the wilderness of Division 2 but couldn't make their return with a victory as they were beaten 2-0 by J-Leaguers who now sit on a maximum of 6 points from their first two games. Not much to go on from the two managers reports on the chat aside from the scorers for J-Leaguers being Masayuki Sakai and Akihisa Watanabe. However it should be noted for the second week in a row featuring J-Leaguers the ref got a whopping 5/5 from both teams.
Soho Spartans and HK Scottish got the brunt of the downpour on Saturday and the Happy Valley Pitch 1 couldn’t cope with the lying water making the pitch unplayable and dangerous with the game being abandoned at half time. At the time Scottish we winning 2-0 so they may feel hard done by but as Frank Sinatra once sang "That’s Life!!"
In Division Two saturday’s early kick off saw Revo and Mes battle out a 1-1 draw in a game reminiscent of playing back in Blighty. Heavy rain pre kick off didn’t dampen the spirits at Kowloon Tsai in what was a fiercely contested encounter. Revo took the lead 10 mins in to the 2nd half when Tim Rechter ‘leapt like a lachs’ and powerfully headed home from a pinpoint corner. Mes equalized with 10 to go after a long range shot was diverted in by Dan Sutton. Both sides had chances to nick it but overall a point each was probably a fair outcome.
