2 more league wins, cup progress and international duty- March roundup.

Juninho- credits Scoop

Written by Adam O'Domhnaill

Following the HKFC double header, Kitchee had two league games either side of the final group game in the Sapling Cup, as Kitchee extended their winning run to nine games. There were also two Hong Kong games against Uzbekistan, and the unfortunate news of Ruslan Mingazow's injury training with Turkmenistan potentially ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Credits to Nick

Kitchee travelled the short distance to Sham Shui Po on the 17th, buoyed by Lee Man dropping points away at Eastern the night before. Fernando, Jantscher and Paulo were still injured, but there was a first Kitchee start since December for Shinichi Chan, and Andy Russell returned from suspension. A brace from Mingazow either side of half time put the game beyond doubt, before Mikael's penalty made it three; the Brazilian's tenth league goal of the season. Cheng Chin-lung cleared a header off the line in the closing stages, but Kitchee held firm for a 3-0 win. The only setback was Law Tsz-chun suffering an eye injury in the first half, which later ruled him out of international duty.

Credits to Nick

Kitchee were deprived of a number of senior players through injury and international callups for the final Sapling Cup group game. Shinichi Chan captained, having not been deemed fit enough for Hong Kong duty, and goals from Temirov, Cleiton and Igor saw Kitchee win 3-1. We now take on Tai Po on the 3rd April.

Poon- credits Scoop

Either side of the Sapling Cup semi final, Hong Kong played Uzbekistan twice in the World Cup Qualifiers. Helio, Tan Chun-lok and Juninho started the 2-0 home defeat, with Poon Pui-hin coming on in the second half. Helio missed the second game, but Kitchee's other three representatives started as Hong Kong lost 3-0 away, being eliminated from qualifying contention. Ruslan Mingazow sustained a bad leg injury training with Turkmenistan, and will miss most of the rest of the season. A blow for Mingazow, who in recent weeks scored the winner in the Senior Shield final, and was showing signs of last seasons form with three goals in his last two games.

Easter weekend saw us travel away to Tsing Yi for a Saturday evening game against RCFC. We were without Fernando, Mingazow and Paulo, but there was a return to the starting line-up for Jakob Jantscher, his first game for six weeks. Helio was making his 200th appearance for the club. Temirov headed in Law's cross early on, before Cleiton doubled the scoring after linking up with Igor Sartori. Andy Russell tapped in at a corner to make it 3-0 after 21 minutes.

RCFC pulled one back, Lee Yoon-gwon latching onto a long ball forward and scoring with a good first time finish. Temirov could've extended Kitchee's lead before half time, and both sides had chances to score as the second half went on. Kitchee sealed their ninth win in a row in the closing stages, as Charlie Scott's long range effort hit the post and then RCFC's goalkeeper 

before going in, and Kitchee secured their ninth win in a row.

April is a busy month for us, with five games. We start with a Sapling Cup semi-final against Tai Po on the 3rd (8pm), before derby day against Eastern on the 6th (6pm), who will be looking for revenge after the Senior Shield final. We round off the month with a home game against Northern District (14th) and then away games against Tai Po (20th) and HKU23 (28th). 

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