Happy Valley ‘relegated’ and Rangers win bonus as Hong Kong Premier League season ends
- Southern finish top of the Relegation group but loss to new boys Resources Capital sees them miss out on HK$200,000 bonus
- Rangers miss chance to top the mini-table with final day 3-3 draw against Happy Valley but take prize money
Going into Sunday’s judgment day both table-topping Southern and second-placed Rangers could lay claim to being the best of the rest by claiming the four team mini group.
Meanwhile, bottom-placed Happy Valley – fresh off beating Resources Capital FC 7-2 in their last game – could avoid "relegation", leapfrog Rangers into second spot and take the bonus cash offered by HKFA vice-chairman Matthew Wong for the team who performed best in the final group stage.
As it was, the teams finished the day as they started. Zesh Rehman’s Southern finished top of the Relegation group, though it came down to their head-to-head record against Rangers.
Second-placed Rangers were a point behind the table-toppers going into the final day and faced bottom side Happy Valley at Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground.
They ended the season as the only team unable to beat Happy Valley, having failed to do so twice in the regular season.
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Lam Hok-hei opened the scoring for Rangers inside an action-packed opening 10 minutes but the lead was pegged back on the half-hour mark as Valley’s Yip Cheuk-man nodded in a corner.
The second-half began with a similar pattern to the first and this time Rangers needed less than five minutes to break the deadlock. Augusto Neto headed Rangers ahead but the lead lasted only 10 minutes before Luciano da Silva headed home to equalised.
They were not done there. Rangers took the lead once more just after the hour through Lam again before a late Chu Wai-kwan equaliser.
Valley, who could have moved above Rangers with a win, finished two points adrift of new boys Resources Capital.
RCFC ended their debut season on a high with a 2-1 win over Southern at Mong Kok Stadium.
Shu Sasaki opened the scoring for Southern, slotting home a Jack Sealy cross after 20 minutes, after Stefan Pereira had missed a penalty just seven minutes in.
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Sealy popped up at the other end to keep his side ahead at half-time, clearing off the line from RCFC’s Law Chun-yan.
Southern’s luck ran out five minutes after the restart. Cheng King-ho got a decisive touch on teammate Yue Tsz-nam’s effort and the scores were levelled.
There was no mistaking that Yue was the scorer of the goal to put RCFC ahead 15 minutes later, rounding Southern keeper Tse Tak-him to slot home.
It finished 2-1 but with both sides down to 10 men after Southern’s Kota Kawase and RCFC’s Tsang Chung-nam both got their marching orders late on.
Rehman was happy with what he called a “respectable fifth-place finish” on Twitter.
“Amazing learning curve for our youngest coaching team in the league and by far the most challenging and rewarding season I have had during my 20 years as a pro. Onwards and upwards.”
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It remains to be seen if Happy Valley will play in the top flight next season, as the decision will be taken by the club rather than the HKPL. No teams are set to be relegated this season, which had already seen clubs drop from 10 to eight, though finances may yet decide their fate.
Last year, Hong Kong R&F pulled out ahead of the start of the season.
