2024 RT Amination Banner.gif

China Daily

//www.chinadailyhk.com/public_resource/public/css/style.css {"dm":"https://www.chinadailyhk.com","httpDomain":"https://www.chinadailyhk.com","hr":"/","httpRoot":"/","smr":"/cndy_asia/WEB/","subMediaRoot":"/cndy_asia/WEB/","trr":"/public_resource/templates/","templatesResRoot":"/public_resource/templates/","srr":"/public_resource/subjects/","subjectsResRoot":"/public_resource/subjects/","pr":"//www.chinadailyhk.com/public_resource/public","publicRoot":"//www.chinadailyhk.com/public_resource/public","subMediaLocalPath":"/data/files/mcpp/publish/cndy_asia/WEB/","other":{"baidu_map_apikey":"T0IxOVsyHiwtTfZRxdyzNH5C","txyun_apikey":"1252065688"}}
News> HK Football> Content
Thursday, September 20, 2018, 14:29
HK all set for Senior Shield and Mid-Autumn Derby
By Tobias Zuser
Thursday, September 20, 2018, 14:29 By Tobias Zuser

The Kitchee Training Centre was severely damanged during the typhoon. (PHOTO COURTESY OF JCKC IN DISTRESS)

As predicted, the Hong Kong Premier League was not spared by super typhoon Mangkhut last weekend. All games scheduled for Sunday, 16 September, were cancelled, while some key facilities suffered serious damages. The Kitchee Training Centre fell victim to the overflowing Shek Mun river and it might take several weeks to restore the site, forcing Kitchee to temporarily move their daily training sessions to Kowloon Bay. Aberdeen Sports Ground, the home of Southern District, also requires substantial work to fix the spectator stand, as the roof had been severely damaged by the wind.

Nonetheless, the football season will carry on as early as Thursday, 20 September, with four clubs already competing in the preliminary round of the Senior Shield. There will be no games on the weekend, but the Premier League is going to make use of the Mid-Autumn holiday, with two matches being scheduled for Tuesday, 25 September.

DREAMS v PEGASUS, Senior Shield, Mong Kok Stadium, Sept 20, 8:00 pm

On Thursday night, 20 September, Dreams will take on Pegasus in the first round of the Senior Shield. Both teams have already played each other in the first round of the season, when the Flying Horsemen came out on top with a one-sided 4-1 victory. Meanwhile, Dreams have lost their second league game against Southern, allowing the Aberdeeners to climb on top of the table, while Pegasus also succumbed to their first defeat, losing away to Tai Po in what turned out to be an exciting seven-goal thriller, with the better end for the Greens. That said, it will be a difficult task for the Dreamers to challenge their opponents in this game, although Pegasus showed some weaknesses in the defense. Former star striker Chan Siu-ki has yet to adopt to his new role as a centre-back, but new coach Pedro Garcia might be able to simply count on his strong attacking line in this game to advance to the quarter finals.

Tai Po could count again on Brazilian striker Igor Sartori in their 4-3 win over Pegasus. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HKFA)

TAI PO v HOI KING, Senior Shield, Mong Kok Stadium, Sept 21, 8:00 pm

Last year’s Senior Shield semi-finalists, including Yuen Long, Southern, Kitchee, and Eastern, were exempted from the first round of the tournament and got a direct entry for the quarter finals. The remaining clubs were subjected to a lucky draw, which sees Tai Po taking on newcomers Hoi King on Friday night, 21 September, at Mong Kok Stadium. The Greens had a mixed start into the season so far, with a hard-fought draw against underdogs Yuen Long. However, they proved that they might still be a proper trophy contender this year, when beating Pegasus 4-3 at home, just a few hours before the Hong Kong Observatory hoisted the no. 8 typhoon signal. Goals came from Lee Ka-yiu, Eduardo Praes, Igor Sartori, and Chung Wai-keung. Meanwhile, Hoi King’s game against Eastern was cancelled, which leaves them currently on eighth place in the table, but with one game in hand. That said, the odds should be highly in favor of Tai Po for this game, and anything than a win for the Greens would be huge surprise.

DREAMS v TAI PO, Premier League, Tsing Yi Sports Ground, Sept 25, 2:30 pm

The random draw for the Senior Shield sees Dreams and Tai Po again in action as early as Tuesday, 25 September, when the Premier League resumes with two games. Both clubs meet each other at Tsing Yi Sports Ground, and the match will give a first indication what football fans can expect from them this year: A win for Tai Po would certainly put them on track as a top team that might be able to compete for trophies this season. At the same time, another defeat for Dreams might suggest that the club will be fully engaged in a relegation battle. Tai Po coach Lee Chi-kin has certainly the stronger team at his disposal, and with Brazilian Igor Sartori the Greens feature arguably one of the best strikers in the league. While the outcome of the game appears to be predictable, it is exactly at Tsing Yi Sports Ground, where Tai Po dropped crucial points at the beginning of last season, and the Dreamers might just try to cause another upset like this.

Dreams will take on Pegasus in the first round of the Senior Shield. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HKFA)

KITCHEE v EASTERN, Premier League, Mong Kok Stadium, Sept 25, 5:30 pm

Finally, the highly anticipated derby between Kitchee and Eastern will take place on Tuesday afternoon at Mong Kok, marking the first big highlight of the season. In January this year, Eastern suffered a humiliating 1-8 defeat against their arch-rivals at the same venue, but since then the situation has changed and the Blues should be highly motivated to restore their pride. Chan Yuen-ting is back in charge and the likes of Everton Camargo and Manuel Bleda could certainly pose some threat to the Kitchee defense. It will also be the first game for Lam Ka-wai against his former club, and it is yet to see how he will be welcomed by the respective fan groups that day. Some recent news reports suggest that Kitchee winger Fernando might have picked up an injury in training, though his absence might boost the chances for an exciting derby at eye-level. Nonetheless, the reigning champions will still be the favorites after all, and the likes of Lucas Silva, Momo Sissoko, and Jared Lum will try their utmost to defend their current streak of remaining unbeaten in the league for more than 20 months.


Share this story

CHINA DAILY
HONG KONG NEWS
OPEN
Please click in the upper right corner to open it in your browser !