June 21, 2020
After round 6 of fixtures Hang
Yuen led the table with 14pts, ahead of Taipower ( 13 ), Taichung Futuro ( 12
), Tatung ( 11 ) then Taiwan Steel ( 9 ). Hang Yuen had looked very disciplined
and defensively solid in their 1-0 win over pre-season favourites Taiwan Steel.
However, before round 7 started
it was announced that Hang Yuen’s 2-2 against Tatung had been declared as a 3-0
win for Tatung, as Hang Yuen had fielded too many foreign players. The rule in
Taiwan is that any number of foreigners can be in the match-day squad but only
4 can be on the pitch at any one time. Hang Yuen had started with 4 foreign
players and then brought on 2 more in the second half, but took-off no Taiwanese
players to have 6 foreigners on the field of play. After further substitutions, they
finished the match with 5 overseas players.
The effect of the match being
awarded to Tatung was a three way tie at the top of the table, with Hang Yuen,
Taipower and Tatung now all having 13 points, with Taichung Futuro in 4th
place on 12 points.
Round 7 saw Taichung Futuro leap
to the top of the table with a 1-0 win over struggling Ming Chaun University,
as Taipower and Hang Yuen played out a 0-0 draw and Tatung were well beaten 1-3
by Taiwan Steel’s best performance of the season.
Taichung Futuro won again in
Round 8, this time 3-2 over lowly NTUS. Taipower edged Tatung 1-0 whilst Hang
Yuen surprisingly drew 0-0 with rock bottom Red Lions, who picked up their
first point of the season. The match between Taiwan Steel and Ming Chaun was
abandoned after 71 minutes due to torrential rain with the score 1-1, although
the game probably could have been stopped 20 minutes earlier as the pitch was
completely flooded.
Round 9 Results
Hang Yuen 0- 1 Taichung Futuro
Taipower 3-2 Taiwan Steel
NTUS 6-0 Ming Chaun University
Tatung 0-2 Red Lions
Perhaps the most important
feature of this week was spectators being permitted to attend inside the stadiums,
although there was no more than a couple of hundred people at any of the games.
In a predictably tight encounter
with precious little goal mouth activity, Taichung Futuro came out victorious over
Hang Yuen to register their 4th consecutive win and remain at the
top of the table. South Korean Joo-Ik Seong, who played for Hang Yuen last
season, converted a penalty in the 37th minute for the only goal of
the game, which came after a poor short goal kick was intercepted by Chei-wei
Chen, who was then fouled in the process of shooting. Hang Yuen have now gone 3
matches without a win
In the most entertaining match of
the weekend ( and the game with an English commentary ), Taipower, who now only
select Taiwanese players, came from 0-2 down after 11 minutes to win 3-2 and
stay one point behind Taichung Futuro. A 77th minute header from Kai
Chen Hung sealed the comeback in a feisty encounter. This was actually a home
match for Taiwan Steel, but as their pitch is undergoing some much needed repairs,
the game was switched to Taipower’s stadium in Kaohsiung.
Tatung had a disastrous result,
losing 0-2 to give Red Lions their first win of the season, with Guatemalan
Geraldo Radre taking advantage of two defensive errors from breakaways to score
with two confident left-footed finishes. With confirmation that a Second Division
will be played this season with automatic promotion for the Champions and a
play-off for second place, Red Lions two matches without defeat, and two clean
sheets has given them hope of avoiding at least the automatic relegation spot.
Tatung were poor, and top-scorer Kouame often looked a forlorn figure as Tatung
dominated possession but rarely looked like breaking through against a massed
defence. The Red Lions keeper was forced to make just two good saves. Tatung
have now lost 3 matches in a row.
In a match between two struggling
sides with only young Taiwanese players in their line-ups, NTUS made a big
stride to avoid the relegation play-off with a 6-0 thrashing of Ming Chaun. Having
gone 8 months without a win, NTUS have now won 3 matches out of 4 to put some
distance between them and the bottom two. Two first half strikes from Po Yu
Chen gave NTUS the impetus.
Top Scorers :
Angel Kouame 9 Tatung
Joo-Ik Seong 8 Taichung Futuro
Hsiang Wei Lee 6 Taipower
Round 10 matches are scheduled for July 5th
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