Rangers boss blows his top after thriller
UHLSPORT-Rangers chairman Lam Tai-fai blasted his players following a thrilling 3-3 draw with Happy Valley in last night's Hong Kong First Division match at the Mongkok Stadium.
Lam said his players had failed to follow his instructions and could have won their first three points of the season if they had listened.
'I instructed my players to play more high balls into the Happy Valley area because they have a very inexperienced goalkeeper in Fan Chun-yip, but they did otherwise. They did not listen. We should have won comfortably,' said Lam.
The Rangers boss also blamed his team's shaky defence for allowing Valley to score three goals and share the spoils.
With Bulgarian central defender Dimitri Kalkanov still suspended, Rangers looked vulnerable.
The double cup champions of last season conceded their first goal after only six minutes when Valley's new Brazilian signing Nivaldo Da Silva scored from close range after a mix-up in the Rangers' defence.
Hong Kong international midfielder Tam Siu-wai equalised in the 35th minute with a brilliant volley after picking up Argentine midfielder Hugo Gimenez's cross and it looked as if Rangers were in command when they led 2-1 five minutes later.
Tam turned creator when he skipped past the Valley defence before swinging over a delicate cross from the bye-line which Yugoslav forward Marko Kraljevic volleyed home.
But mistakes crept into the Rangers' defence when they conceded the second goal on the stroke of half-time.
Rangers defender Yan Lik-kin was to blame when he failed to clear a dangerous ball which fell invitingly for Scottish striker Paul Ritchie who made no mistake from close range.
Valley midfielder Chow Chiu-hung gave his side a 3-2 lead three minutes into the second half from a goalmouth scramble following Iain McCall's corner.
Rangers had to wait until the 72nd minute before grabbing the equaliser through new Australian striker Alistair Edwards.
Valley goalkeeper Fan failed to get a hold on Kraljevic's deep cross from the left flank and Edwards capitalised on the mistake.
Rangers team manager Tony Siew said: 'We played bad and we practically presented all the goals to Happy Valley.
'It is a disappointing result for us because we lost our first game against Golden and it now seems that we have to beat South China on October 5 to salvage the situation.'
