Sun Hei made the most of their second chance yesterday as a second-half hat-trick by Nigerian hitman Julius Akosah helped them to a 5-2 demolition of Maldives' New Radiant in group E of the AFC Cup at Mongkok Stadium. The match was originally scheduled for Tuesday but a torrential downpour forced the referee to abandon it with Sun Hei trailing 1-0. Sun Hei coach Koo Luam Khen denied that the weather had come to his side's rescue. 'Last night was only half a match, and football is a 90-minute game,' said the former Malaysian International. 'However today it was a good team performance. 'We are now joint top with Perlis in group E. We must win our next match [against Home United] and hope for the best.' However, New Radiant midfielder Ali Ashfaq said Tuesday's rainstorm had scuppered their chances of making it through to the next round. 'We were winning yesterday and we were playing very well,' said Ashfaq. 'But today we were all very tired, especially in the second half. Now we cannot go to the knockout stages.' Sun Hei are scheduled to play Home United in Singapore on May 16. Only the top teams from each group automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, with two spots open for the highest scoring runners-up. New Radiant got off to a bright start in the opening minutes when striker Mohammed Sameer was felled inside the penalty box by Lai Kai-cheuk. Christian Nitta made no mistake from 12 yards to put the visitors a goal up. But Sun Hei responded moments later as Lai made up for his bad tackle by driving the ball into the back of the net from a corner to level the scores. The home team took the lead on the half hour through Brazilian Fladimir Da Cruz Freitas. Sun Hei struck again immediately after the break when Akosah deflected a shot from Chu Siu-mei past keeper Mohamed Silan for a 3-1 lead. The Maldivians maintained the pressure and were rewarded in the 55th minute when Nitta bagged his second to keep the visitors in contention, but two close-range strikes from Akosah sealed the contest.
