Fukien let safety slip through fingers

Fukien's recent revival came crashing to a halt as they let a victory that would have secured their place in next season's First Division slip through their fingers, slumping to a 2-1 defeat against fellow strugglers Nancheng at Mongkok Stadium last night.

With half an hour to play Fukien, who in mid-March were joint-bottom with only one win to their name, held a 1-0 lead and the points that would have lifted them out of the relegation mire permanently.

However, an overly cautious approach saw Emerson's first-half header cancelled out by a 66th-minute Musa Shannon penalty. With six minutes left the Liberian striker found Wang Zhongfan unmarked in the Fukien penalty area and the three points headed back to Dongguan. 'Our team worked hard but they're not patient enough. We were playing too many short passes,' raged the normally unflappable Fukien coach Alex Chi Chi-kwong, after his side's first defeat in six league outings.

'A draw would have been enough. Why did everyone want to attack? We were winning. Why not wait for them? Sometimes football can be like that.'

Despite Chi's protestations, it appeared too many long balls, and an over reliance on Ghanaian teenager Godfred Karikari up front to take the pressure off the defence single-handedly was the root cause of Fukien's downfall.

Either way, Nancheng were grateful for the respite, even though they seem not to be planning to return for next season. 'It's good to get a win. No win comes easy for this team. It's tough. For me I don't want to be in a team that has become relegated,' said Shannon after only their third league win of the season.