UFL: Sparks stomp on, Global stops Kaya

The Loyola Meralco Sparks were just too much for new-look Army to stop, while Global held on in the second half to survive Kaya, in UFL action, Saturday at the Emperador Stadium.

Army FC, now properly known as Army-GTI FC, has been bolstered by Korean nationals from the General Trias International team. GTI FC had previously joined the UFL Cup in 2012 as a guest team, while Army is currently the only Armed Forces team in the First Division with Airforce and Navy having been relegated to the Second Division.

The Sparks looked to take charge from the start, but Army-GTI were determined to prove that they could play with the big boys and created chance of their own too. It was Loyola that struck first at the 26’ mark, as Matthew Hartmann’s cross found a perfectly-positioned Phil Younghusband. Just 10 minutes later, defender Sam Bonney made it 2-0 for the orange-clad team.  

A header from the indefatigable Fred Gonzalez, off a cross from Phil Younghusband, had it at 3-0, just five minutes into the second half.

Army-GTI’s Boogie Margarse pulled one back at the 61’ after some confusion in the Sparks defense allowed fellow Azkal Roel Gener’s corner to drop to him.

However, the Sparks’ Lee Won Hyung, who had just come on as a substitute, made sure that his side kept their lead, and ably shot past the keeper off another assist by Phil Younghusband, making it 4-1 for the Sparks at the 75' mark. Phil Younghusband though, was not yet done, successfully sending in the ball off a free kick from way out, just to put even more distance between the two teams.

Army-GTI FC may have changed their name, but the game ended in true Army fashion, with elbows and everything else flying all over the pitch. Still, Loyola Meralco kept their composure, to win 5-1.

Communication woes abound in Global versus Kaya

In the second game, an early error for the Global FC’s starting goal keeper Paolo Pascual resulted in an indirect free kick for Kaya FC, as Pascual had handled the ball after it had been back-passed to him by defender Patrick Delon Yao. OJ Porteria was credited with a goal after the free kick, and just like that, Kaya was up just three minutes into the match.

But a little bit of everything seemed to happen early in the game as just at the 10’ mark, some confusion reigned on the pitch. Kaya looked like they had scored a goal, but all the Global players were up in arms as the linesman was acknowledged late by the referee. It was a Maradona-esque handball by OJ Porteria that had sent the ball into the net. The referee showed a straight red card to Porteria, cutting down Kaya to just 10 men, but in a show of sportsmanship, Porteria shook hands with the referee and linesman before heading off the pitch.

Things took a turn for the worse for Kaya as just minutes later, Nick O’Donnell was sent in to replace Sorongon, who looked like he sustained an injury during one of Global's incursions into the box.

There were more attempts by Global in this game compared to their failed bid versus the Sparks earlier in the week, but Kaya's defense held well, perhaps bolstered by the boisterous Ultras Kaya.

However, Global's new signee Charlie Pettys had something different in mind, equalizing at the 29’ with a beautiful header, after scurrying down the right flank from all the way at the back, in perfect timing with Misagh Bahadoran’s assist.

Pettys would say later on that this was his first goal off a header in his career.

As the game progressed, it looked like there may still be some communication problems to be worked out by the Global frontline as Mojtaba Miromohammadi cut into a pass clearly meant for Ben Starosta.

That being said, just minutes after their equalizer, what looked like a fumbling attempt by Global resulted in a goal by defender Val Kama. The ball seemed to bounce between post and crossbar before ultimately tumbling into the top side of the goal well beyond O'Donnell's hands.

Both squads looking determined coming into the second half, with no halftime substitutions on either side.

In the last ten minutes, Global continued applying pressure, trying for that elusive third goal. O'Donnell had hard work to do, trying to contain the barrage of attempts from about five or six different Global players. Pascual played better in the second half, with a couple of timely saves, more than compensating for his error earlier in the game.

'We will not file a protest'

"Extremely proud of my boys. What OJ did was wrong, but having said that, ridiculous decisions like that cost championships,” said Kaya Coach David Perkovic after the game. “The evidence was on the pitch. We will not file a protest, but we were not able to fight an honest game."

“I will make sure that the boys pick themselves up from this disappointing loss.”

Global Coach Leigh Manson had praises for Kaya too, saying they had played very well, especially considering that they were a man down through most of the game. Having both goals scored by defenders, Manson said, “We’re going to work hard on possession and creating more chances.”

However, Manson also said that the defense looked better and Global played in a more assured manner. He added that even with the error, “overall we're happy with Paolo's performance.”

Global had only one substitution in the game, and when asked about injuries on the team, Manson pointed out, “We’ve got four or five critical players. Any team is going to miss Carlie [de Murga] and Izo [Elhabbib]. Jerry [Barbaso] and Nino [Ochoterena] are also, waiting for operations. We have to take that into account, and the new players have to get used to each other.”

“We want to play good football for the fans, you saw the passing game earlier, but without conceding goals.”

Kaya was coming off a confidence-boosting win vs Pachanga-Diliman FC. However, Head Coach David Perkovic started goal keeper Mark Sorongon in this game instead of Nick O’Donnell who had played the whole first game. For Global, Yao and Japanese midfielder Yu Hoshide were in the Starting XI as teams look like they are still tinkering with line-ups this early in the League.

This year’s League competition features a three round-robin format instead of the past years two rounds. “It’s worth taking this time to get to know your players,” said Coach Manson.

UFL Division One games resume on Tuesday. - AMD, GMA News