FA Cup semi-final giant-killing as crisis club Sham Shui Po shock mighty Lee Man
- Cash-strapped underdogs succeed where all in the league have failed as they end champions-elect Lee Man’s double dream
- Sham Shui Po ‘fighting’ to raise funds to stay in Premier League, two years after ending long absence
Financially stricken Sham Shui Po conjured one of the upsets of the Hong Kong football season by crushing Lee Man’s double dreams in a dramatic FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Hong Kong midfielder Wong Wai’s 29th-minute goal appeared poised to ease Lee Man’s path to a final date with either Kitchee or Eastern next month.
But Sham Shui Po, latterly rejuvenated on the field, roared back with second-half strikes from Nicholas Benavides Medeiros and Isamel Dunga, before surviving 11 minutes of stoppage time.
The victory constituted a show of defiance in the face of adversity for the district club, who are desperately trying to secure funding to remain in the Premier League.
A club spokesman told the Post that Sham Shui Po were “fighting” to preserve their top-flight status, but would have no definitive answer over their future until the end of the campaign.