South China won the first title of the season thanks to a last-gasp penalty as they defeated Xiangxue Sun Hei 2-1 in the Choi Fung Hong Senior Shield final at Hong Kong Stadium yesterday.
With one minute to go before full-time and the score deadlocked at 1-1, Chung Kin-hei of Sun Hei handed the opposition the game on a plate. Second-half substitute Cheng Siu-wai seemed to have little chance of scoring as he came in off the right flank, but Chung knocked him down and the referee had no hesitation in awarding South China a penalty, which was calmly converted by marksman Tales Schutz.
Sun Hei threw everything they had at South China in the remaining four minutes of injury time, but came up short. The win provided the Caroliners, who needed a special dispensation from the Football Association to stay in the top flight after finishing in the relegation zone last season, with entrance into next year's AFC Cup.
The award presentation was marred by some ugly scenes as a group of angry Sun Hei fans threw water bottles at the referee and his assistants, who then refused to accept their mementos for safety reasons.
Chow Man-hei, team convener of Sun Hei, was disappointed that the referee had made the penalty decision at such a critical time. 'It was not an obvious foul by Chung as he only went for the ball. There was only one minute left. A penalty at that stage certainly killed us off,' he said.
'An experienced referee should consider the impact of a penalty before he makes such a decision.'
The Sun Hei official, however, paid tribute to the performance of both teams, saying all the players worked extremely hard to contribute to a good cup final.