Holders South China were dumped out of the Choi Fung Hong Senior Shield when they were beaten 2-1 by Kitchee in yesterday's semi-finals at Mong Kok Stadium.
Lo Kwan-yee put his side ahead in the 23rd minute and Goran Stankouski extended the scoring one minute after the break before the Caroliners replied through Brazilian striker Jose Wellington Santos, who scored his 12th goal of the season three minutes later. But it was too little, too late for the Caroliners, who suffered their second defeat of the season. Their first loss this term - in the league - also came at the hands of Kitchee.
South China convenor Steven Lo Kit-shing said he was disappointed.
'We played below par today. It's most disappointing that we lost to the same team again,' he said.
Lo said Portuguese midfielder Nuno Cavaleiro, who played his second match for the Caroliners yesterday, would be axed from the team.
Kitchee's opponents in the Shield final on December 23 will be Eastern, who advanced thanks to Rodrigo Galvao's 119th-minute winner, the only goal of the game against Happy Valley. In a match that saw three red cards, Eastern had Lee Sze-ming and Wong Yiu-fu sent off in the 29th and 57th minutes before Valley were reduced to 10 men when Fagner Santos received his marching orders in the 65th minute.
