West Island School are targeting a memorable trophy treble after thrashing their hapless opponents 5-0 in the final of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Division One (Grade A) inter-school football competition.
The boys from Pokfulam, who won the recent Hong Kong International School Football Tournament in Tai Tam, will go all out to retain their All-Hong Kong (Jing Ying) title in February.
Bradley Raper scored twice and strikes from Matthew Paterson and Keith Robertson, along with an own goal, made it a day to forget for surprise finalists Aberdeen Technical School (ATS) at Happy Valley Sports Ground on Monday. 'We want to win the Jing Ying again,' said the team's talented attacker, Robertson. 'That's the trophy everyone wants more than anything.'
West Island team manager Mark Williams said ATS had no chance against his boys' open, positive style of play. 'It was very one-sided. I think the first goal ruined their game plan. If they had scored first, it might have been different. I think they would have sat back and defended. But once we scored, it was all one-way traffic,' he said.
Midfielder Eddie Haynes played a key role, winning plenty of loose ball and picking out the forwards regularly with pinpoint passes. 'Eddie played a great game in difficult conditions. He was our man-of-the-match,' said Williams. The surface at Happy Valley was a bare, brownish patch, with hardly any grass on it.
With the light fading rapidly, the last 10 minutes of the match was played out in virtual darkness.