The second day of the match in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2017 Round 2 HONG KONG Women’s tournament concluded on Friday afternoon with Chinese Taipei defeating Guam 8-1 at the Hong Kong Football Club.

Chinese Taipei needed just two minutes to take the lead when goalkeeper GARRIDO Sophia dove to save LEE Hsiu-Chin’s shot, but LAI Li-Chin was in perfect position to score on the rebound.

The match settled down for long stretches, with Chinese Taipei pressuring the Guam goal but not with quite enough speed to get past Guam defenders who eagerly threw themselves in front of the ball.

But momentum shifted in the 12th minute when SURBER Paige scored Guam’s first goal of the tournament, a tremendous shot lobbed from just inside the penalty area.

SURBER muscled past Chinese Taipei defenders twice more in the minutes following, forcing a save by PAN Ting-Yi in the 15th minute with another strong shot.

Chinese Taipei recovered their composure and the lead in the 29th minute, with PAO Hsin-Hsuan crossing the ball from the left side to LEE Lsiu-Chin who volleyed it in on the far side.

In the 38th minute it was PAO scoring when her low shot slipped past GARRIDO’s hands and inside the left post.

PAO’s second assist of the day came just two minutes later, with an unmarked LIN Ya-Han heading the ball in to make it 4-1.

In the 42nd minute, YU Hsiu-Chin’s header from a PAO’s cross was blocked but LAI Li-Chin quickly rushed forward to score with a second effort.

The second half opened with YU scoring when her shot bounced off GARRIDO’s upstretched hands and back into the net in the 47th minute.

With PAO having come off at halftime, Chinese Taipei’s attack slowed considerably, and the most exciting chance came in the 73rd minute when JOHNSON Skyylerblu was denied in a one-on-one encounter with PAN.

As the clock ticked toward full time, Chinese Taipei wrapped up their win with a pair of goals from LIN, who completed her hat trick in the 82nd and 85th minutes from close range thanks to crosses from LIU Chien-Yun and TSOU Hsin-Ni.

Guam could take heart from their spirited efforts in the first 30 minutes of play, while Chinese Taipei left the pitch knowing that nothing but a Monday win against Korea Republic would book them passage to the final round in Japan.

By Cesare Polenghi (twitter)