Kitchee Hopes to Nail down Sapling Cup Semi-Final

Building on its strong start in 2016, Kitchee will return to the Henderson Sapling Cup battle ground on Wednesday evening by taking on BC Rangers. The Group A tussle between the two premier league sides will kick-off at 8:00pm in Mongkok Stadium. With a win and two draws from its past three Sapling Cup group games, Kitchee currently sits on the second spot in Group A with five points. The club has yet to lock up a position for the semi-final and will undoubtedly enter Wednesday’s match determined to do just that. Forwards such as Alessandro Leonardo, Jorge Tarres and Fernando Pedreira have all performed admirably this season and contributed timely goals for Kitchee, with the latter two delivering two assists (Tarres) and one goal (Pedreira) in last week’s premier league victory against Hong Kong Pegasus. There is little doubt that Kitchee supporters will look forward to the attacking duo to repeat their heroics once again and lead the side to yet another victory. Prospect Cheng Chin-lung believes Kitchee is a stronger side than BC Rangers and should be able to overcome its opponent on Wednesday evening. “BC Rangers has a lot of promising young players in their side. We have faced them before in the reserves league and I am certainly aware of their quality,” offered the midfielder. “Having said all that, I believe we are a finer side than them when it comes to the build-up play and as long as we play up to our standards, I am confident that we can come out with a win.” Law Tsz-chun, another gifted young player for Kitchee, hopes to get the call once again on Wednesday night. “Ever since I got the chance to play for Kitchee in an earlier Sapling Cup game, I have been paying close attention to the club’s schedule in the tournament, hoping that I will get another chance to impress,” Law said. “Despite the previous holiday period, I have continued to prepare for this match rigorously so hopefully if the coach decides to send me out for this game, I will be able to deliver a confident performance and help the team to get to the next round of the competition.”