Round
4 continued with Dirt Dogs taking on the unbeaten
Hilfe FC. The contrast in fortunes could hardly
have been greater. Dirt Dogs were still searching
for their first points after three successive
defeats, while Hilfe FC had been flawless, collecting
maximum points from their opening three matches.
Football, however, has a habit of producing
surprises - as Group A had already shown when
Victory United stunned FC NoeNoe after the Dutch
side's long unbeaten run. Dirt Dogs would have
hoped to produce a similar upset, but they faced
an Hilfe FC side determined to maintain their
perfect record.
Hilfe
FC quickly demonstrated why they were one of
the tournament favourites. Usamah Asania broke
the deadlock before Sultan Keji Adebari doubled
the advantage with a well-taken finish. Riyad
Rahman then added his second goal of the competition
to complete a commanding first-half performance,
giving the English side a deserved 3–0 lead
at the interval and leaving Dirt Dogs with an
uphill battle.
The
second half followed much the same pattern as
Hilfe FC continued to play with confidence and
attacking intent. Idris Asania made it 4–0 before
the ever-reliable Marquez Cadette maintained
his remarkable record of scoring in every group
match by adding a fifth. Zakariya Lunat then
completed the scoring with his second goal of
the tournament, rounding off an emphatic 6–0
victory for the group leaders.
The
result kept Hilfe FC's perfect campaign intact,
making it four wins from four and a maximum
12 points as they maintained the pressure at
the top of Group B. For Dirt Dogs, it was another
difficult game. After opening the tournament
with two narrow but encouraging one-goal defeats,
successive heavy losses suggested their campaign
had begun to run out of momentum, although they
still had one final opportunity to finish their
debut on a positive note.
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