SOUTH China gave their troubled season a lift by coasting to a stylish 4-0 victory over Ernest Borel in a Hongkong First Division match at Mongkok Stadium yesterday.
The Caroliners, fielding only three overseas players rather than the permitted five, scored twice in each half to record their biggest win of the campaign.
And the three points lifted them three places up the table into fifth on 10 points, while condemning Borel to their fourth successive defeat in league and Cup and leaving them only one place above the relegation zone.
A change of tactics, following their 4-0 defeat at the hands of Eastern in their most recent match, the Camelpaint Challenge Shield final on December 20, worked wonders for South China as they tore through a dispirited Borel outfit.
But this will not stop the Caroliners attempting to bolster their strikeforce in time for the Viceroy Cup and the Hongkong FA Cup, having already conceded their championship crown to Eastern.
South China boss Steven Lo, who awarded his players a bonus of $3,000 a man for yesterday's win, said: ''I am very happy with the performance; now the players are young and more active than before.