Lee Man and Sham Shui Po squared off on Sunday afternoon for the latest Sapling Cup Group A fixture. Lee Man and Sham Shui Po battled hard on the chilly day but failed to come up with the all-important goal to break the game open. At the end, both sides were forced to shake hands on a well fought 0:0 draw after ninety minutes of regulation time.
Lee Man and Sham Shui Po squared off on Sunday afternoon for the latest Sapling Cup Group A fixture. Lee Man and Sham Shui Po battled hard on the chilly day but failed to come up with the all-important goal to break the game open. At the end, both sides were forced to shake hands on a well fought 0:0 draw after ninety minutes of regulation time.
Lee Man fired the first warning shot of the game on the 3rd minute. Givanilton Martins found enough opening on the left flank and pulled the trigger on a long range shot, only to send the ball over the Sham Shui Po crossbar.
On the other end, it was Sham Shui Po’s turn. Nicholas Medeiros had control of the ball on the left side of the Lee Man penalty area. The Sham Shui Po attacker managed to get off with a shot but could not beat Lee Man goalkeeper Tang Tsz-long with his effort.
Sham Shui Po gave Lee Man a scare on the 20th minute and almost opened the score. Lai Kak-yi pressured the ball off a Lee Man player on the right wing and darted forward. Lai decided to test his luck and belted a powerful long range bomb towards the net, only to drill the ball over the Lee Man goal.
Lee Man came up with its own solid scoring opportunity near the half hour mark. On the 26th minute, Cheng Siu-kwan gave chase to a delicate forward pass from Manuel Bleda. Cheng dashed into the box on the right side and unleashed a quick shot, only to be smartly smothered by Sham Shui Po goalkeeper Wong Tsz-chung.
On the 32nd minute, Givanilton Martins delivered a teasing corner-kick down the left side. Jose Alonso dashed to the ball at the front post and headed it towards the Sham Shui Po goal, only to be denied by a superb reaction save from Wong Tsz-chung in goal.
It was still Lee Man late in the first half. On the 36th minute, Manuel Bleda pulled the ball backwards for teammate Jonatan Acosta. The latter stepped up and smashed a one-timer towards the Sham Shui Po goal, only to witness his shot sailed over the crossbar. At half time, Lee Man and Sham Shui Po were all tied scoreless.
The second half stared somewhat slowly and it was Sham Shui Po that eventually produced a semi-decent scoring chance. On the 70th minute, Tang Tsz-kwan belted a long shot from the left flank but missed finding the intended target.
On the 75th minute, Lee Man almost broke the game open. Chang Hei-yin floated a teasing ball towards the middle. Manu Gavilan failed to get all of the ball and saw his header easily claimed by a sprawling Wong Tsz-chung in the Sham Shui Po net.
Late in the second half, Lee Man came close from netting the match-winner. The Sham Shui Po defense had trouble dealing with a Lee Man long pass. The ball fell in front of Law Cheuk-hei right outside the box. The Lee Man youngster side-footed the ball but could not generate enough power to beat Sham Shui Po goalkeeper Wong Tsz-chung.
Right before the final whistle, Lee Man had one more chance to come out on top. Manu Gavilan broke loose down the right wing and made a powerful run into the box. Gavilan shook off his marker and belted a tight-angle shot towards the net, only to be denied by Wong Tsz-chung once again.
The score stood unchanged all the way towards the final whistle, as Lee Man and Sham Shui Po were forced to shake hands on a well fought 0:0 draw.