Dickies thrash 10-man Rangers

LEAGUE champions Instant-Dict stayed on course for a possible treble last night with a clinical 5-1 victory over Rangers in their Viceroy Cup semi-final at Mongkok Stadium.

Three goals up within 15 minutes of kick-off, Instant were never threatened by a lacklustre Rangers side who had centre-half Gerald Ambassa sent off midway through the first half for two dreadful tackles on Instant's Ian Baird.

Ambassa - given a brief to man-mark Baird from the start - lost his cool after twice losing his man in a devastating opening spell where the former Brighton striker scored twice for Instant. Ambassa should have been booked for a tackle from behind on Baird just after the third goal went in on 15 minutes. His name finally entered the referee's notebook moments later when he felled Baird with a reckless two-footed lunge on the edge of the area.

Soon after that, the rugged Cameroonian defender was on his way to the changing rooms for another bad tackle on Baird - who else? - and Rangers' slender hopes of retrieving something from the match had all but evaporated.

'It definitely made it easier for us. Coming back from three goals down was going to be difficult enough with 11 men . . . with 10 it was going to be even harder. They've got players like Kevin Hunt and Dean Martin who deserve credit because they always give 100 per cent, but getting somebody sent off always puts the pressure on you,' was Instant skipper Tim O'Shea's verdict on Ambassa's dismissal.

'We are satisfied with the way we played. We did what we had to do . . . in cup football the only important thing is the result and really, with 5-1, you can't be too unhappy.' Instant opened the scoring on six minutes when Paul Foster flicked the ball on to Baird for a simple tap in. Foster got his name on the scoresheet four minutes later after drifting into the six-yard box for another simple goal.