HAPPY Valley clinched a semi-final spot in the Senior Challenge Shield when they edged Golden 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after a goalless 120 minutes of play at Mongkok Stadium last night.
Defeat was particularly hard to swallow for Golden as a highly controversial refereeing decision by Cheung Chung-ping marred the match.
Referee Cheung sent Golden striker Alen Bajkusa off three minutes before the end of normal time for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Bajkusa argued with a linesman and then spat at the ground but Cheung took offence and gave the Bosnian striker his marching orders to the astonishment of the Golden camp - and the 2,390 spectators in the stadium.
'It was a crazy decision,' said Golden president Wan Chi-lok.
'Bajkusa was nowhere near the linesman when he spat and I'm absolutely certain that Bajkusa had not intended to spit at the linesman,' he said.