UFL: Kaya match biggest win of season, shoot down Army

A quickfire double in the first half put Kaya in full control, as they breezed past the Army 4-0, at the Emperador Stadium on Tuesday in UFL action.

Nate Burkey’s flicked pass sent Anton Del Rosario through on goal in the 11th minute, before another Burkey pass out wide found Janrick Soriano two minutes later, which Soriano dutifully smashed in on the bounce.

Kaya started the second half by improving to 3-0 as OJ Porteria was put through by none other than Nate Burkey, the teenager calmly going beyond Army keeper Victor Troyo for the score in the 49th minute.

Troyo then lost a corner, dropping it for Del Rosario to poke in his second of the game in the 61st minute, for a 4-0 scoreline and Del Rosario's sixth goal of the season to become Kaya’s top scorer.

The scoreline also matched Kaya’s biggest win of the season, which came against the other Armed Forces team, the Air Force, earlier in the season.  

First half

Jonah Romero’s through ball for Chris Greatwich early on could only be hit straight at their veteran keeper Victor Troyo in the sixth minute in the first chance of the game as the Army didn’t lie down without a fight early on. Building up the play from the back, their final ball let them down though.

However, Nate Burkey’s flicked through ball in the 11th minute split the Army defense and Anton Del Rosario raced through to quickly and confidently tap it into the bottom corner, opening the scoring with his fifth of the season.

Only two minutes later, a Burkey chipped ball out wide fell kindly for Janrick Soriano and his shot was deflected low and out of the reach of Troyo for his fourth of the season in a quickfire Kaya double.

After providing the first two goals Burkey tried to get on the scoresheet himself with a lobbed effort over two defenders in the 20th minute, but it fell into Troyo’s hands easily enough with the keeper on his line. Kaya were gaining a very strong foothold in the game though, with Soriano almost doubling his own tally as he hit low. Luckily, Troyo made a good save with his feet in the 25th minute.

Fantastic build-up play by Kaya put a stamp on their dominance minutes later, passing the ball around at will, but after OJ Porteria skillfully beat his defender, he couldn’t quite get on the end of the one-two pass. The Army then passed around nicely themselves, Boogie Margarse playing the ball out wide on the right for Relan Bretana, but his cross was too deep and fired well over by Ronel Gener following up on the left.

The Army started losing their cool, as first, Wilson Dela Cruz was pulling back Nate Burkey and took a swing at the Kaya target man before Eddie Mallari was on the end of a kick moments later. Still, it was a far cry from the last match between these two when Rodrigo Betita kicked the linesman and was banned for six months.

Kaya should have made it 3-0 soon after though, as Troyo’s pass out wide put Dela Cruz under pressure, but the Army defender inexplicably passed across goal and straight to Del Rosario, only for the Kaya man to drill the ball wide with only the keeper in front of him.

In the 37th minute, Soriano shot wide from the right wing, a similar position to his previous goal after being fed by Burkey again, but his chip over Troyo just didn’t have enough legs to take it into the net. In the 42nd minute OJ Porteria found some space on the left but fired straight at Troyo before Eddie Mallari was booked for grabbing the ball as Army were trying to take a throw in before halftime.


Second half

At the break, the Army brought on Gil Villanueva for Erwin Silvestre, looking to change their fortunes. The Army rode their luck early on as OJ Porteria controlled a lobbed ball with his knee before volleying against the crossbar with the outside of his boot.

The teenager however got his goal in the 49th minute, as again Nate Burkey was there to provide the assist to put Porteria one-on-one with the keeper. This time, Porteria successfully rolled the ball beyond Troyo and slotted in Kaya’s third of the game.

It was the 20th shot Kaya had on goal, compared to the Army’s two, showing the clear gulf in class between the sides in this game. Jim Munoz then came on for Eddie Mallari, who brought down Meliton Pelayo just outside the area, protecting him from a red card.

In the 61st minute Victor Troyo came to catch a corner but dropped it to the feet of Anton Del Rosario, who poked the ball just over the line before it was cleared away by the Army defense. The officials did well to realize the ball had gone in and Kaya took a 4-0 lead with Del Rosario’s second of the game.

It was Troyo’s last action in the game as Joshua Singson came in for the Army keeper with Toshiya Hosoe also replacing Jonah Romero, with Woody Ugarte coming on for Janrick Soriano for Kaya. After Porteria fired wide from inside the area in the 73rd minute, Roel Gener made way for Elmer Pabilona and Anton Del Rosario came off for Dario Dakic.

Nate Burkey, whose form has improved remarkably over the last few games, then came off for Sean Iliff in the 84th minute, who forced a good save from substitute keeper Singson in the 89th minute and Dakic fired just over from the corner as the final scoreline read 4-0 to Kaya.

What’s next for the teams

Following another defeat here, the Army will have a long break before facing Nomads on June 1, looking to arrest a seven-match losing streak. Despite only recording four points in fifteen games, victory against the Nomads could well save the Army’s season as it would take them off the bottom of the league and above the Air Force, who have Global, Pachanga, PSG and Kaya for their remaining four fixtures.

After only losing out on the title due to goal difference last year, Kaya meanwhile, will be looking to finish fourth this season, too far behind to make a run at the title. However Pachanga have a game in hand so Kaya will have to continue their recent form to end in the top four. Their next game will be against PSG on May 28. - AMD, GMA News