Division 1
Goodfellas 0 - 3 Wan Chai Spartans
Goodfellas were unable to field a team and forfeited the game. Spartans were awarded a 3 - 0 win.
Stray Dogs 0 - 2 Wan Chai Wolves
Scorers (Wolves): D Vaddamani, A Boulanger
Stray Dogs Report:
Tough game for the dogs. Wolves were very well organised and hard to break down. We fought hard to hang in there but wolves eventually broke the deadlock and quickly followed up with a second. Hats off to Wolves good luck and look forward to playing you guys again soon!
Ref: 1/5 lacked consistency and some ridiculous calls.
Wolves Report:
An intense and competitive game. Wolves arguably should have been ahead at the half time, but the Stray Dog’s keeper put in an immense shift making some outstanding saves.
We finally managed to capitalize on all the chances we were creating in the second half when Dinesh Vaddamani fired home a long-range effort from just outside the box. This was followed up by a second from Adam Boulanger shortly after.
Stray Dogs really came back into the game after the second goal and put Wolves under pressure. We defended well and managed to maintain our lead and get the win.
It is always a tough game against Stray Dogs.
Good luck with the rest of the season!
Ref 4/5 – in control of the game and no major issues
Club Tropicana FC 0 - 4 HK Scottish Eagles
Scorers (Eagles): G Fenwick 2, A Stamp, B Sanson
Tropics Report:
We started the game quite well and were pressing in eagles half for the first 10 mins without really creating too much. However, we were caught on the break with a good finish and our confidence drained after that.
Eagles played well but I thought the score was a bit flattering. Having said that we could have played all day and not scored. Well played eagles, no yellow cards for either side says a lot about how the game was played.
Relegation dogfight here we come!!
Ref: 3/5 no real complaints from us. The teams reffed the game 2nd half more than him
Eagles Report:
Closer game than the score line suggests. Tropics had plenty of chances but we managed to take most of ours this time.
Ref: 3/5. Agree - second half some odd / non-decisions but nothing controversial
HK Scottish Stags 2 - 1 Corinthians
Scorers (Stags): J Sullivan, R Crichton
Scorerr (Cors): B Usman
Stags Report:
A fair game that was well contested by both sides. We got the opening goal midway through the first half but not a huge amount of chances were created after that. Cors got the equaliser just before halftime from a corner.
2nd half we struggled to get going and couldn’t keep possession. Cors put on the pressure with a lot of balls into the box but couldn’t quite find that 2nd goal. We knicked one on the rebound from a saved penalty then managed to hold on for the win.
Ref 3/5 - a few of the usual frustrating decisions but nothing major
Cors Report:
We started a bit sluggishly and Scottish took the lead with a well-worked goal. We equalised shortly before halftime with a scrappy goal from a corner.
I thought we had more control in the second half, but couldn’t create enough clearcut chances. Scottish were awarded a penalty which they converted on the rebound.
Overall, I thought a draw would have been a fair result, but there we go.
Ref 3/5
KCC Cavaliers 1 - 5 J Leaguers
Scorers (Cavs): C Lowcock
Scorers (JL): D Okamoto 2, K Miyata 2, R Ouchida
Cavs Report:
Straight from kickoff J leaguers got the better of us and were direct, full of energy in their press and were well synced as Cavs struggled to link passes or win duels. Went 3 nil down very early in the first half before we woke up and found one goal though. The 4th goal by J leaguers was the decisive goal that took the air out of the game as we conceded while we were building rhythm and getting back into the game.
Not much to be said in the second half as we had some half chances and in the ones that we looked like favourites to score we weren’t clinical enough and the keeper made some decent saves too. Very surprised with where J leaguers are at the table as they are a strong squad, good luck to you boys. You handed our first defeat of the season and a big wake-up call. Looking forward to the 2nd leg for some quality football
Ref: 3/5 Could have handed out easy yellows at times to control the game, but decide to keep his cards in the pocket most of the game.
JL Report:
JL went into the Monday night game with good preparation and got early 3 goals as a reward in the first 15mins. KCC returned back with a set piece, 3-1 at the half. KCC dominated the rest of the game forcing us to sit back deep. We managed to defend at the last line and scored 2 more from counterattacks. The scoreline flatters us a bit and doesn’t represent the competitive match.
Good fight KCC, see you again in the 2nd leg.
Ref: 5/5 Nothing controversial.
Division 2
Legal Head 2 - 2 Old Speckled Men
Scorers (Legal Head): A Nadeem 2
Scorers (OSM): S Burdekin, B Wiggins
LH Report:
Playing straight after the Revo game on one of the few grass pitches left to play on, thought it was a fair result...we had a squad of 16 facing OSM with their usual big squad...fairly even in the first half with the keepers not really tested...we took the lead with a bit of a strange first goal a deep ball into the left side of their box was headed over their stretching keeper by our striker, it seemed their CB would clear but his header went up in the air and our guy headed in from close range…
So 1.0 ht but we were losing guys to mainly strain injuries and effectively only had 12 left to use...we did however extend the league with a well-timed run by our striker breaking their offside line and finishing smartly...OSM pulled one back minutes later through a run along the right goalline by their influential no. 25 which we should have cut out, from his cut back the shot left our keeper with no chance...they then scored from a corner when their guy seemed to get his chest to the ball inside a group of players and it flew in...so 3 goals scored 2nd half and 20 mins still left...OSM scented victory though we were dangerous on the break...their best chance was about 7 mins from the end when another cutback was struck first time but this time thankfully flew past our left-hand post…
so a good result for us in the circumstances, with a firm defensive display in the 2nd half...no real flashpoints, I know OSM were unhappy with the many offsides against them (and the lack of one for our 2nd goal) but I could see the assistants were in line each time, and on one occasion the guy on the nearside explained why he had raised his flag, showing that he did know the rule!
Cheers for the game, guys, we will try to make it into the top half for round 3 later in the season
OSM Report:
A frustrating day for us, becoming our own worst enemies and making it hard for ourselves, leaving us 0-2 down early on in the second half before recovering. Firstly, around the 25min mark, a long ball over from Legal Head was headed up and not out twice, with our keeper being caught in no man's land, leaving the striker to head into an empty net (but good anticipation and determination to see it through). Secondly, after 5mins of the second half, LH scored again. The ball was bundled through the midfield with players from both sides seeming to stop for a foul/handball not given (no idea if it was, but the impression was given as some players stopped) and then a through-ball with suspicions of offside caught us out until a nice cross-finish from the striker. In between the goals, we had been in most of the ascendancy with some good passing in midfield and promising situations with the wingers, before poor decision-making or the final ball held us back from scoring.
However, once 0-2 down, we did respond quickly. Shane Burdekin played a ball out to Josh Carubia who dribbled and tricked his way along to the left-hand dead ball line before squaring for Burdekin to finish one time. A nice move to follow the pass and get us back in the game. Later, Burdekin sent over a deep free-kick right onto returning-from-Singapore Ben Wiggins' head at the far post who seemed to nose it wide. Last week's hat trick hero Murphy Chan also got in down the right but the finish wasn't there. With 10mins to go, a corner from Matt Bowman was headed/chested in by Wiggins who happily made up for the earlier miss (with the more difficult chance!). We thought we could win it and kept searching for the fifth goal of the game. Our best chance arrived at Burdekin's foot; under similar circumstances to his first, albeit from the opposite side, we were all aghast when it didn't hit the net! But, that was not to be and we finished 2-2.
Good, solid and competitive game with Legal Head on a bushy, grass pitch. Nice to add Tin Shui Wai as a new venue for the OSM!
Ref - 3/5 - nothing too bad; not going to comment on the 2nd LH goal (if you were in-line then no worries, all good), but a number of calls back on our attacking side in the 2nd half raised frustration higher. It's a recurrent theme of linos just raising the flag whenever someone runs through and commented by other teams during the season too. We all need refs to run our league, however, of course, so just have to accept it.
Sampdoria FC HK 2 - 3 Bants Raptors
Scorers (Sampdoria): Ciotti, Vastola
Scorers (Bants): N Samer, T Rogerson, J Leung
Sampdoria Report:
N/A
Bants Report:
A very tough game against Sampdoria as usual. They opened the scoring after winning the ball from our defence and a quick one-two to put their player through one on one with our keeper. We equalised when Noah got through on the left-hand side, touched it past the keeper and slotted home from a very tight angle. A great finish.
The second half started with their CB getting sent off inside the first 20 seconds. A second yellow card coming from a mistimed sliding tackle on the edge of their box, after being booked for a handball in the first half. Nonetheless, Sampdoria regained the lead through a penalty. They cut the ball back from their right wing and our CB blocked a shot which bounced up and hit his arm. Rogerson equalized through for us after nodding the ball past their centre-back and slotting home. Both sides had a few chances as players got tired and the game opened up. Jeff Leung slotted home for us from close range on one of a few counterattacks which could have yielded a goal. We defended towards the end of the game and saw it out.
Thanks for the game - see you again soon!
Ref 4.5/5 - probably the best we've had this season.
San Pellegrinos 0 - 3 Revolution
Scorers (Revs): L Saville, S Liu 2
San P Report:
Tough game for us with a depleted squad and zero subs, we had our moments throughout the game but it wasn't to be. Not taking anything away from Revo's win and they fully deserved the 3 points, game was played in good spirits.
Ref 3.5/5
Revs Report:
A road trip to Mainland China on a massive, bumpy grass pitch. SPs had 10 men for the first 10 mins but we failed to take advantage of the imbalance. We came into the game more halfway through the first half and benefited from an unlucky handball as our striker tried an audacious outside of the foot flick which hits the SP defender's hand. Liam Saville stepped up and scored from the spot. Second-half SPs kept going, but were physically tiring not having any subs (except for their energizer bunny left winger). Around 10 mins into the second half, Simon Liu latched onto a through ball and rolled it across the goal into the far corner. We got a third late on with Simon Liu's second of the day. Well played SPs - agree was a game played in the right spirits. SPs were unlucky not to get a penalty from a handball - but overall I thought the ref was one of the best we've had this season.
Ref: 5/5 - no complaints
Barbarians 1 - 2 The Shooters
Scorers (Bars): G Chayyere
Scorers (Shooters): U Kobayashi, T Ono
Bars Report:
Good game Shooters!!!
Shooters Report:
Both teams started with focus and intensity with some goal chances. Shooters got a penalty towards the end of the first half and scored. In the second half, the score changed to 2-0 with Shooters capitalizing corner opportunity. Barbarian fought back also though set piece, with strong shoot after corner. There was another Barbarian’s big chance at the very end of the game through a free kick, but luckily for us, the header went wide.
Good game Barbarians and good luck with the rest of the season.
Ref: 4/5. Focused and made well-balanced judgments
Samurai Blue 2 - 1 KCC Royals
Scorers (SB): Y Aboubaker 2
Scorers (Royals): ???
No match report from either team
Division 3
A.S. Dragon 4 - 2 V United
Scorers (Dragons): B du Plooy 3, T Bodet
Scorers (V United): M Hasan, S Meera
Dragons Report:
Tight game. Was 1-1, then 2-2 going into halftime. We then managed to convert some chances later in the second half to make it 4-2 to give us a bit of breathing space. And we needed it as well as V United were causing a lot of problems towards the end of the game so we were very happy to hear the final whistle. Well played V United, the game was closer than the scoreline ultimately suggests. Best of luck for the rest of your season.
Ref 3/5 - Could have been better, but we’ve had a lot wise and it’s not like he influenced the result
V United Report:
Agreed. It was a tight game and both teams were going for winning despite the 2-2 scoreline at half time. V United did not take their couple of 1v1 chances whereas ASD was clinical in front of the goal. Despite late pressure searching for goals ASD did well enough to see thru it. Well played, always a pleasure playing you guys and looking forward to it. Good luck for the remaining season
Ref 3/5 - Had good control and allowed a free-flowing game.
BOCs 2 - 5 Dong Feng Express
Scorers (BOCs): J Jim 2
Scorers (DF Express): S Liu 3, C Pang, W Luo
BOCs Report:
Tough game today but DF were clinical in front of goal. Twice we pulled it level but with only 1 sub we ran out of steam. DF had the better possession but the score line doesn’t reflect the closeness of the game for the first 60min of the game. With BOCs tiring, DF pulled away and didn’t look back. It was a physical game and we were caught out with skilful attacks. Well player DF.
Ref 2/5. He didn’t change the result but I have had him before and he has always been suspect. The only saving grace is he is consistent for both teams.
DFE Report:
The small pitch of Wong Chuk Hang made it harder for us to penetrate through midfield, but we managed to have more possession and created more chances.
We opened the scoring from a penalty, and BOCs levelled with a toe poke poacher. 1st half ended 1-1.
We led again a few mins into 2nd half, but the score was tied for the 2nd time, BOCs player got to the ball first than our GK and lob in from a tight angle.
We led again before long and then two more quickly followed and 5-2 before 2nd water break, and that was the end result.
Ref 2/5: made a few obvious errors: the throw-in given to BoCs which led to their 2nd goal where the ball was still within the line. An offside call where our player started running from our own half, and gave BoC a goal kick after their GK made a great finger-tip save in the last minute.
Comrade 0 - 5 HK Vikings
Scorer (HK Vikings): P Heinze 3, K Bek, M Spaan
Comrade Report:
The men in red showed why they were top of the table as it was a difficult match for us to play against. HK Vikings were just too physical and better in moving the ball around as a team. We were still in the game at halftime as we were trailing by 2 goals but had several good chances where we could have equalised at 1-1 or pull a goal back when we were 2-0 down.
Second half we conceded very quickly as we were caught off guard when we dumped bodies forward in search of scoring but Vikings were deadly in the counter attacks which killed the game for us. We could have avoided 2 goals in the whole game but some tight onside calls played them on by the linesman which put them in the driving seat.
A good test for us nonetheless as we have to work on our fitness and defending set pieces. Cheers Vikings for the game and good luck with your season!
Ref: 4/5 but I think he forgot to bring out his cards on many occasions. The linesmen on both ends were dodgy tho
HK Vikings Report:
The first 30 minutes close. Comrade played better than in our first match. But Vikings are a little stronger in defence and direct in the attack. Well played Comrade and good luck for the next matches
Ref 3/5. Not great but fair to both teams.
