Players face the axe as bottom club Happy Valley lose again

Struggling Happy Valley face a clear-out of players after they ended the year with another defeat in the RedMR First Division at Tai Po Sports Ground yesterday.

Their 5-1 loss to leaders Kitchee means Valley remain rooted at the bottom of the table with only one point after eight matches.

Team official Chris Lo Kwoon-ming admitted the squad would undergo changes when the transfer window opens next month. "We are going to make some changes with our local and expatriate players," said the assistant team manager. "We want to improve our results in the second half of the season, so we must take action. We will bring in new faces but we can't reveal any names at this stage."

It is believed four of their five existing foreign players face the chop, with centre half Sasa Mus from Croatia the only one likely to stay. Goalkeeper Darko Bozovic, midfielder Jonath Acosta, defender Cesar Arce and forward Leonardo Abalsamo are all set to leave. But Lo reassured the team remained in a healthy financial situation as their major sponsor, a LED manufacturing firm from the mainland, had guaranteed support for the club until the end of the season.

Valley have already changed coaches once this season, with Hector Timoner replacing Paul Foster in October. But Foster is now set to quit after just two months at the helm and will be replaced by a coach from Shanghai next month.

Leaders Kitchee, meanwhile, should have won the game by a larger margin against a vulnerable Valley defence. With 35 goal attempts - 15 on target - they were only able to build a 3-0 lead in the first half through Juan Belencoso (two goals) and Alexander Akande. Fullback Daniel Cancela made it 4-0 in the second half before Julius Akosah pulled one back for Valley.