UFL: Kaya gets the best of sibling rivalry with Loyola after rain delay

It was a mix of brotherly love and sibling rivalry, Tuesday at the Emperadord Stadium, as Kaya forged a 3-1 win against the Loyola Meralco Sparks, with the Greatwich and Del Rosario brothers on opposite ends of the pitch, and the Hartmann and Younghusbands on the same side.

The first major action though, saw Alex Obiang miss from three yards out in the most shocking miss of the season so far, and probably the worst miss in the UFL ever. That was before Chris Greatwich side-footed a corner kick into the net with style in the 20th minute.

In the 34th minute, James Younghusband equalized for Loyola, heading in Jeong Byeong Yeol’s first time cross after smart, counter-attacking passing.

And things only got better for the neutral fan as Kaya put together a string of good passes before feeding the ball for Anton Del Rosario to belt the ball into the back of the net from 20-yards out. His fourth goal of the season, in the first minute of injury time, put his brother Armand’s new club 2-1 behind at the break.

In the second half, Nate Burkey hit the post only eleven seconds after the restart, but Chris Greatwich put Kaya two goals up with his second of the game in the 57th minute, confidently converting a penalty given away by Ref Cuaresma. Even a temporary stoppage, after heavy rains created pools of water on the pitch, couldn’t stop Kaya as they beat Loyola, with all the goals coming from players with brothers in the same or opposing squads.

First half

Jeong Byeong Yeol was the first to come close to scoring, heading just wide in the ninth minute from a great pass. A minute later, Alex Obiang made a shocking miss as Ref Cuaresma came off his line and OJ Porteria kept his cool to round the Loyola keeper who collided with a defender. Laying it off for Alex Obiang in the middle, the Kaya forward was all of three yards from goal with no one near him, yet somehow, he clipped the ball over the bar when it was easier to score.

After a dull few minutes, probably because everyone was still in shock at the earlier miss, Kaya opened the scoring when Chris Greatwich volleyed in Logan McDaniel’s corner in the 20th minute, in a technical strike, which was the opposite of Obiang’s earlier miss.

Daniel Zeleny then gave away a free-kick in the 32nd minute, but Mark Hartmann curled the 20-yard set piece just over. The ball was spread well to Jeong Byeong Yeol, who cut the ball back, and Matthew Hartmann laid it out wide to Jeong again. His first time cross was landed perfectly onto the head of James Younghusband, who powered it beyond Saba Sadeghi and into the corner of the net to equalize in the 34th minute.

And as the teams looked like they were going into the break, more drama ensued, as Kaya played some smart passing in the Loyola half to eventually work a cross from the byline. Chad Gould got in a block, but this only deflected the ball towards goal and Ref Cuaresma did well to turn the ball away.

Kaya got the ball back up soon after though, one minute into injury time, and after picking the ball up just outside the area, Anton Del Rosario smashed it into the right corner of the goal. Putting Kaya 2-1 up against Loyola, it capped some decent passing for his fourth goal of the season.


Second half

Only 11 seconds into the second half, Nate Burkey hit the post as he burst through on the left and rolled his foot over the ball to beat Ref Cuaresma. Unfortunately, the tight angle saw the ball hit harmlessly against the woodwork.

Later, OJ Porteria picked up Peter Fadrigalan’s poor clearance and took a snapshot at goal. Flying towards the bottom corner, Ref Cuaresma had to be alert to dive and tip the ball wide. But a minute later, the Loyola keeper undid his good work by giving away a penalty as he recklessly took out Nate Burkey.

Chris Greatwich stepped up to slot in his second of the game and take a 3-1 lead with his fourth goal of the season, hitting the side of the net as it nestled into the goal in the 57th minute.  

As if the game hadn’t seen enough drama, rain poured down with thunder rumbling in the background. Angelo Marasigan came in for Matthew Hartmann in the 62nd minute for Loyola, before Janrick Soriano replaced Eric Dagroh for Kaya as the rain continued to pour, creating pockets of water everywhere.

Nate Burkey got booked for a foul on Chad Gould as the rain continued to lash the pitch, making it impossible to pass the ball on the ground, with thunder drowning out even the Ultras Kaya.

Both sides made changes with Mark Hartmann coming off for Jang Joo Wong and Toshiya Hosoe replacing Anton Del Rosario, but the rain forced the match officials to temporarily suspend play, bringing the players off the pitch with only eight minutes to go. Soon after, the game restarted and Kaya held onto their deserved 3-1 victory in those eight minutes, following their best performance of the season so far.

What’s next for the teams

Kaya are now one point behind Pachanga as they look to reclaim fourth spot with a fantastic performance, aside from that Obiang miss of course. The only question for Kaya then, is how much higher up the table could they have been if they’d played like this from the start of the season? Either way Kaya will be in action next against the Army on May 21.

Loyola will also be in action on May 21, against the Nomads, as they look to rebound and get back into the title race. However things are out of their hands now with the Sparks falling to seven points behind the Stallions if the league leaders win their game in hand against the Air Force on Thursday. - AMD, GMA News