A refereeing performance of quite staggering ineptitude failed to prevent Instant Dict from inflicting a deserved 3-1 win over rivals South China in their Ericsson League clash yesterday.
Eight yellow cards, a mystifying sending-off and an even more perplexing penalty decision were the main talking points after a game which leaves Instant five points clear at the top of the table.
Examples of poor refereeing have been common in Hong Kong over the past few seasons, but the performance of yesterday's man in the middle, Wong Po-on, set a new low.
Two particularly baffling decisions stand out from yesterday's game.
The first concerned the 60th-minute sending off of Instant's elegant sweeper Dimitre Kalkanov, inexplicably given his marching orders after a seemingly innocuous tussle with Shum Kwok-pui.
The second decision was even more dubious, when South China earned a 67th-minute penalty after their substitute, Dale Tempest, appeared to do little more than run into an Instant defender just inside the area.