Happy Valley marched relentlessly into the semi-finals of the Smart-soccer.com FA Cup when they thrashed relegation-haunted Rangers 4-1 yesterday.
But the league champions have their work cut out if they are to edge closer to an expected Cup showdown with arch-rivals South China. They first have to beat Instant-Dict in Thursday's Cup semi-finals.
The Dickies, desperate for Cup success to make up for another dismal season, swept aside Kitchee 3-0 in an earlier match.
Happy Valley also had it easy against Rangers, with first-half strikes by Lee Wai-man (sixth minute), Lo Kai-wah (11th) and Brazilian forward Tomy Giacomeli (38th) paving the way for the convincing victory at Mongkok Stadium.
Alen Bajkusa scored an audacious 63rd-minute goal to compound the misery after goalkeeper Ho Siu-chung failed to clear the Bosnian's right-wing cross and only succeeded in putting the ball into his own net. Nigerian forward Dominic Iorfa scored Rangers' goal in the 16th minute, but Happy Valley were always in control.
Rangers defender Barne Colly Ezeh was sent off for a second bookable offence five minutes before time but his team were thoroughly beaten by then.
