Sapling Cup final: Kwoon Chung Southern beat Lee Man to claim Hong Kong season’s last silverware
- Stefan Pereira scores twice to give Southern their first top-flight trophy
- Southern go some way to making amends after blowing the chance to finish third in the league
Appropriately for a side sponsored by a coach company, Southern were adept at parking the bus to avoid being usurped again, while also being the more clinical. Or rather, they were driven by Stefan Pereira, who bagged both goals in the second half.
Having put his club in front with a stunning free-kick, he burst clear to finish coolly and snuff out their opponents’ late rally. He marked it by hurdling the Lee Man-emblazoned perimeter advertising boards as comfortably as he had bypassed their defensive barriers.
Lee Man had hinted at an alternative outcome, even without suspended striker Everton Camargo, when Givanilton’s low cross just eluded Ryan Cheng Chun-wang early on. Givanilton also flashed a shot across Southern goalkeeper Ng Wai-him but wide of the left upright.