Rufino Segovia’s well-taken treble powered Kitchee

Riding on a three-game winning streak, Kitchee ventured to Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon and defeated BC Glory Sky 5:1. Veteran striker Rufino Segovia ended up as the talk of the day, as the Spaniard stole the show with a well-taken hat-trick. Kitchee dominated the game right from the get-go, generated chance after chance in the first half, with Jared Lum coming especially close through a header that glanced off the goal-post. Unfortunately, the Blues could not breakdown the stubborn BC Glory Sky defense and the first half ended in a goal-less manner. After the interval, Kitchee finally broke the game open with an Alessandro Leonardo close-range strike. However, BC Glory Sky capitalized on a counter-attack and drew level shortly afterwards, putting the game back at square one. Midway through the second half, Leonardo fired from close-quarters but hit the woodwork with his shot, as the visiting supporters started to get anxious. Moments later, Jared Lum fired Kitchee in front and put the Blues back into the driver’s seat. With nearly twenty minutes to go, Rufino Segovia sealed BC Glory Sky’s fate through a wonderful hat-trick, including goals from a well-taken strike, a clinical header and a cool penalty shot. At the end, 5:1 proved to be the final score, as Kitchee weathered the storm and took home all three points. Kitchee head coach Alex Chu credited BC Glory Sky for its fine work defensively but also gave full marks to his side for buckling down and coming up with maximum points. “Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground is a very narrow pitch. With the opponent parking the bus in front of its goal, it was certainly a tough challenge for us to break down the opposing defense. Thankfully, our team stayed composed and the substitutes brought their desired impacts, enabling us to come home with all three points,” Chu expressed. Hat-trick hero Rufino Segovia was glad with his accomplishment on the day but was more relieved with netting all three points for Kitchee. “It is a wonderfully feeling to score three goals and to help the team to win. BC Glory Sky started with a five-man backline and also had four players in midfield, taking away a lot of space from our attack. However, Sandro (Alessandro Leonardo) managed to score early in the second half and broke the game open for us, making things a bit easier afterwards,” commented the Kitchee goal-machine. “As a matter of fact, the victory against BC Glory Sky today is a very important win for our title hopes. Hopefully, we can keep up with the good work and go toe-to-toe against Eastern Long Lions in the last game of the premier league season, fight for the premier league title.”