Four wins, a trophy, and one goal conceded- February review

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Kitchee rounded off February with a Sapling Cup victory over North District and a comprehensive win over Hong Kong U23, which built on the earlier wins against Eastern and Rangers. This means we finish the month with four wins and a trophy. But there is room for improvement; we needed a stoppage time penalty to force extra time in the Senior Shield final, and scraped 1-0 wins against Rangers in the league and North District in the cup, before a customary rout of HKU23.

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In the Sapling Cup, North District had a hatful of chances in the first half, including a goal ruled out for offside, while Kitchee were restricted to efforts from range. Matheus Porto continued to cause Kitchee problems in the second half, where Matthew Slattery missed a fantastic chance to put Kitchee ahead. Charlie Scott's effort from outside the box looked to be going wide before it hit Juninho and went in. The win in front of 423 fans means that progressing to the semi finals of the Sapling Cup is entirely in Kitchee's hands. A win against Lee Man, with both sides depleted by international callups, will see them through. But fan dissatisfaction with the Sapling Cup is growing amongst our fanbase as well as other clubs, with attendances dwindling. There are many reasons for this; neutral venues, fixture clashes with international games and too many meaningless games to name a few. The aim of the tournament when it was created was to give more playing opportunities to young players in Hong Kong, but this has not been the case, and the double round-robin structure means an increased amount of games. This competition seriously needs a revamp for next season, or fan numbers will continue to be low.

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Kitchee took on Hong Kong U23 on Sunday in front of another poor crowd, although the fact that HKU23 do not really have a fanbase and the result was a foregone conclusion prior to kick off (Kitchee winning the previous six meetings a combined 31-1) probably contributed. The substandard nature of the opposition meant that Kitchee rotated heavily, with teenage goalkeeper Tuscany Shek and Ibrahim Kurban making their HKPL debuts, and Cheng Chin-lung making his first league start for over a year. Kitchee had early goals for Poon Pui-hin and Juninho ruled out for offside, before a first time strike from Cleiton gave Kitchee the lead after 25 minutes. HKU23 had one attack that Kitchee dealt with, before a foul on Cheng Chin-lung gave Kitchee a penalty, converted by Cleiton. Juninho scored our third just before half time after good work from Cleiton and Law. 

As the second half went on Kitchee had chances but HKU23 goalkeeper Michael Wan kept the score respectable. Igor Sartori scored a quickfire double around the hour mark. Kitchee continued to look for a sixth, with Mikael, Poon and Mingazow all going close. The sixth goal eventually came from Seb Buddle coming off the bench to score on his return to the club. Kitchee probably should have had more, but the game meant that fringe players got more minutes, although much tougher tests lie in wait.

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While the club are yet to confirm the news on social media, manager Kim Dong-jin mentioned in an interview that Oliver Gerbig's departure to Henan of the Chinese Super League has been confirmed. The Hong Kong born centre back has been a mainstay of Kitchee's backline since his arrival in July 2022. He started every league game last season, as well as both cup finals as we won the treble. In last year's Senior Shield final, he scored the winning penalty in the shootout. This season he scored his first league goal, and won the Senior Shield in his last game for us. He also made his Hong Kong debut in 2023, before a raft of defensive injuries meant he played every minute at the Asian Cup. We wish him all the best in the CSL.

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Next up for Kitchee is an away game in the league at Hong Kong Football Club, this Sunday at 4.30pm. The game was a sellout last year so get along early to avoid disappointment. We face HKFC again the week after, an FA Cup quarter final at Mong Kok Stadium on 9th March at 3pm.

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