Borel to retain winning line-up

SOCCER'S knockout kings Ernest Borel will stick with their winning formula when they resume their Viceroy Cup defence against high flying Eastern tomorrow night - and that means they will be without goalkeeper Tim Dalton and striker Raphael Meade, writes Norideen Kitchell.

Borel de-registered Dalton when they played Kui Tan in the Cup quarter-final last week, opening the doors for them to use five outfield foreign players for the first time this season.

The gamble paid off handsomely as they finally got their act together after five months of inconsistency and scored a morale-boosting 6-2 win.

Team manager Tsui Kwok-on confirmed yesterday that Craig Foster, Keith Thompson, Tony Finnigan, Clive Goodyear and Peter Murray will be in the line-up to face Eastern, who are still unbeaten this season.

It will be Borel's last match before the March 31 deadline for the registration of players and the decision to leave out Dalton and Meade indicates they may not be kept on as each club can retain only five expatriates.

But Tsui said: ''It is too early to say who are the five foreign players we will retain. A decision will be made after Friday's game.'' Borel stamped their authority on knockout tournaments last season when they captured the Viceroy Cup and FA Cup.