The guilty party, nine of whom face trial later this month, were suspended by the Vietnam Football Federation, with more players departing the 2013 domestic cup winners as they looked for a team with regular matches.
But despite the gutting of their playing stocks, Ninh Binh's youth players stood up to the continental task and, under the guidance of head coach Nguyen Van Sy, won their final group game 4-1 at Yangon United and then beat India's Churchill Brothers in the last 16.
Kitchee, though, proved a tougher nut to crack in the last eight of the second tier Asian club tournament.
The Hong Kong outfit led 2-0 and then 3-1 on Tuesday before Le Van Thang scored a brilliant volley to cut the deficit and set up a nervy last 15 minutes as they pushed for an unlikely draw.
But a horrendous error by home goalkeeper Tran Buu Ngoc in stoppage time gifted Spanish striker Juan Belencoso a second goal of the game and put the tie firmly in the favour of the Hong Kong side ahead of next week's second leg.
Next Tuesday's clash at Mong Kok Stadium a likely last match before Ninh Binh begin life in V.League 3 and attempt to claw their way back to the top.
(Writing by Patrick Johnston, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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