Hong Kong Football Club A returned to prominence after this past week's reversal of fortunes added fuel to the battle for second place in the Hong Kong Men's First Division. Club, who were effectively eliminated from the title race when upset by Kowloon Cricket Club A (KCC) last Sunday, bounced back with a backlash Pakistan Association A would rather forget after a 7-1 thrashing at home. Andy Batchelor led goalscoring honours with five goals, while Marc Duncan scored two. Club skipper Derek Field said he said credit for the win should also go to veteran stand-in goalkeeper Chris Watson. 'Chris [Watson] hadn't played for the senior team for about five years, I think. He played well. Although we beat them 7-1, the scoreline could have been closer because Pakistan had a few good goalscoring chances and they were rather unlucky,' said Field, whose team are steady in second place in the table. Champions-elect Shaheen, who thrashed KCC B 5-0 this past Sunday to retain their league title, went on the rampage again as they recorded their 14th straight victory. This time they beat the Cricketers' A team 5-1 at King's Park with goals from Asghar Ali (two), Swalik Muhammed, Arif Ali and Derec Leung. KCC's consolation goal was scored by Richard Hogg, whose team started the game with just 10 men and later had only nine when forward Jaime Collaco was sin-binned midway through the second half.
