EASTERN, their strength sapped by an almost complete walkout in June, face a baptism of fire as they take on the Hong Kong League XI in the Aw Hoe Cup, the traditional curtain-raiser to the season at Mongkok Stadium today.
The withdrawal by the Lai Sun Group wreaked havoc into the triple defending league champions' camp with all but a few players, including goalkeeper Iain Hesford, striker Dale Tempest and defender Keung Heung-fai, staying loyal to the club.
Eastern will have their work cut out against the best the territory can offer and the omens do not look good for a side still shaken by events in the off season.
The League XI lineup reads like a Who's Who of Hong Kong football. PROBABLE LINEUPS Eastern: Iain Hesford; Tong Kin-ming, Chan Kwok-fai, Wong Kwok-on, Poon Man-tik, Keung Heung-fai; Loh Wai-chi, Geoff Cooper, Yeung Ching-kwong; Michael Dunn, Dale Tempest.
Hong Kong League XI: Werner Kooistra; Mike Duxbury, Tim O'Shea, Chu Yue-tai, Cheung Chi-tak; Tim Bredbury, Tam Siu-wai, Oleg Alexeenko, Wu Qunli; Alen Bajkusa, Lee Bullen.
