UFL: Kaya and Archers share points after six-goal thriller

Green Archers United fought hard to hold Kaya to a 3-3 draw at the Emperador Stadium, Tuesday, after leading them 2-1 in the first half.

Antonio Ugarte opened the scoring in the ninth minute as he blasted in a shot from the edge of the area after Alu Kigbu’s shot from OJ Porteria’s cut-back was blocked. But only three minutes later, Jovanie Simpron was played in by Chieffy Caligdong to equalize for the Archers.

In the 22nd minute. it was Chieffy Caligdong again, touching the ball beyond defender Logan McDaniel and goalkeeper Nick O’Donnell, as he received a Jesus Melliza cross from the left, and tapped into the empty net.

Both teams were at a stalemate until Kaya found a breakthrough in the 69th minute, with Chris Greatwich scoring off the rebound as Logan McDaniel smashed the ball against the bar.

After lots of substitutions, and more than a couple of yellow cards, the game finished in incredible style, Chris Greatwich scoring an overhead kick from a long throw-in in the 89th minute before the Archers equalized a minute later, as substitute Olowoyeye stunned Kaya to finish the game 3-3.

First half

Kaya opened the scoring in the ninth minute as Antonio Ugarte fired in the opener. OJ Porteria beat two men on the right wing and pulled the ball back for Alu Kigbu, whose shot was goal-bound before it was blocked by a defender. But the loose ball fell into the path of Ugarte, who smashed into the top corner to open the scoring and put Kaya on course for their fifth win of the season.
 
However, those celebrations were cut short as Chieffy Caligdong’s through ball carved open Kaya’s defense and allowed Jovanie Simpron to slot in his second of the season in the 12th minute. Ten minutes later and the Archers went ahead as Kross Ubiam was caught in possession by Jesus Melliza.

Melliza raced in and took the ball down the left wing, crossing for Chieffy Caligdong whose slight touch took the ball away from the Kaya defender and goalkeeper, knocking the ball into the empty net for his fifth goal of the season at the 22nd minute.

This left Kaya now needing to come from behind to get the win, something they achieved in dramatic fashion against Global last time out when two goals down, and OJ Porteria almost provided the opportunity twice. His first cross was blocked from a dangerous position, before another mazy dribble on the right set Ugarte up to shoot again, but he fired just wide this time.


Second half

After the break, Chieffy Caligdong was brought off as he took a hit to the knee while tussling for the ball. Hobbling off, his injury will be some concern to the Archers as he is their marquee signing and the center of everything they do in attack.

Jesus Melliza came out for Agbayomi Olowoyeye in the 56th minute, while Kaya also brought on Edward Mallari for Alu Kigbu, hoping to get back into the match, but the second half didn’t see any clear cut chances for quite awhile.

Tating Pasilan was then booked for a high foot, before Arnie Pasinabo replaced Sean Lee. Kaya also brought on some fresh legs in Carlo Liay, to try and liven a game that was fading out at this point in the 67th minute.

Things picked up almost immediately, as the 69th minute saw Chris Greatwich equalize for Kaya, OJ Porteria playing a through ball for Logan McDaniel who crashed the ball against the bar. However, the Azkals’ hero from the 2010 Suzuki Cup was there to pounce on the rebound and put Kaya level.

The Archers responded by starting to lose their cool a bit, as Ronnie Aguisanado went into the book, prior to Tating Pasilan receiving a yellow for arguing with the referee about where the wall was.

The free-kick was headed wide by Nate Burkey though, in the 72nd minute, but the momentum had certainly shifted to Kaya. Aguisanada was brought off for Arvin Soliman, with the risk of a red card too much, before Burkey did well to get his head to Anton Del Rosario’s deep cross. However, he could only head it straight at Patrick Deyto in goal.
 
Sean Iliff then replaced Nate Burkey in the 75th minute and went into the book five minutes later for a late and dangerous lunge. Soon after, the Archers won a free-kick outside the area and Jovanie Simpron lofted the ball just over, agonizingly close to a winner, before OJ Porteria came off for Janrick Soriano.

Soriano almost provided a goal instantly as he cut back for Chris Greatwich, but his shot was too close to the keeper, and despite its power, Deyto got to it quickly to hold onto the ball and prevent the goal.

Another substitution apiece and Kaya almost went ahead as Soriano forced a good save out of Deyto, but Chris Greatwich scored an overhead kick as Logan McDaniel flicked on a long throw and the Azkal midfielder acrobatically struck the ball from six yards out to put his side ahead.

Celebrating what they thought was the winning goal, only a minute later, the Archers equalized through Agbayome Olowoyeye and Deyto secured the point for the Archers with a good save from a powerful shot, as the whistle sounded to signal the draw at 3-3.

What’s next for the teams

Kaya is on a seven match unbeaten run in the UFL after a difficult start to the season. Losing just two games so far, they find themselves off the pace at the top as they’ve drawn more games than anyone else in the league, coming away with a point in five games so far in 2013.

They'll be looking to extend that unbeaten streak against Nomads on May 2, but at this point their title ambitions are most likely over.

The Green Archers, meanwhile, need to pick up points quickly to avoid being sucked towards relegation. Four ahead of the Army, the eighth-placed Archers are trailing PSG and the Nomads by three points and will need to start picking up wins soon to finish mid-table and clear of relegation.  However they looked much better in this match than previous games, and may have found a working formula against a tough opposition.  - AMD, GMA News