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UFL weekend: Global and Kaya rack up more points as the season begins to wind down

By CERES LINA

The UFL weekend had a full complement of First Division games to make up for the Holy Week break and the upcoming international break, with matches held at the Emperador Stadium.

On Saturday, the Loyola Meralco Sparks drew with Green Archers United 1-1, while Global FC walloped Pasargad FC 4-1. The following evening, Stallion FC edged Army-GTI FC 2-1, and then Kaya FC won their clash with Pachanga PLDT Home Fibr FC 2-1.

The Sparks started with a slightly unfamiliar Starting XI. Matthew Hartmann was on the bench, Joaco Canas and Boyet Canedo were both suspended on accumulated yellows, and Phil Younghusband was on the bench and doubtful to play.
 


Just five minutes into the game, newcomer Graham Caygill scored for the Sparks off what looked like a rebound after a scramble inside the Archers box.

There was quite a bit of work for Archers keeper Patrick Deyto, as the Sparks looked determined to absolutely dominate from the onset. The Sparks’ determination seemed to be working as the Archers had a difficult time getting into the last third.

The 35th minute saw a sorry miss from the Archers’ Tating Pasilan. Pasilan had already beaten Sparks defender Sam Bonney and keeper Baba Sampana was on the ground scrambling to get to the ball but Pasilan hit his shot wide of the goal.

At the 43rd minute, a penalty was gifted to the Archers, as Sampana caught the ball outside the keeper’s area. Robert Lopez Mendy made the penalty, equalizing at 1-1 at the end of the half.

The second half started off slowly for both teams, as neither the Sparks nor the Archers could seem to build up their plays. Several substitutions were made in the span of five minutes, perhaps to try and remedy the stalemate situation. For the Archers, Jesse Martindale was subbed out for Shapay Johnson, and Boiboi Fernandez was sent on for Tommy Escoltero. Later, Chieffy Caligdong was on for Jonjon Melliza. The Sparks sent on Matt Hartmann, Bo Bar Park, and Phil Younghusband for Caygill, Lee Won Hyung, and Paolo Bugas.

Phil gave the Sparks lineup another dimension, and he had a couple of good chances, but the Azkal just could not find the back of the net.

The Sparks sent in another substitution at the 75th minute, with Roxy Dorlas coming on for PJ Fadrigalan.

There were more attempts by the Sparks in the dying minutes of the game, but Deyto was up to task. The game ended at 1-1.


Like the Sparks, Global also started with an altered Starting XI, perhaps trying to rest their Azkals. Misagh Bahadoran started as captain in Jason de Jong’s stead. De Jong was not on the bench and watched the game, dressed in street clothes, from the grandstand.

At the eighth minute, Global’s Raul Martinez made the opening goal, a weird one, as the ball seemed to spin on Pasargad keeper William Nsangou's behind before it rolled into the goal. It took a few moments for that shot to register with everyone.

The game was pretty much one-sided, as Pasargad just could not contain Global. In the 21st minute, Global saw another ball into the goal, this time from Bahadoran, but it was flagged offside. There was some confusion with the scoreboard though, as the operator seemed to think the goal counted, so the score read 2-0 for several minutes.

At the 36th minute, Global sent in a couple of substitutions. Yu Hoshide and Angel Guirado came on for Hamed Hajimedhi and Curt Dizon. Even though they were dominating, Global looked like they had some problems with communication in the midfield before the substitutions.

The second half saw Pasargad shock Global with an equalizer at the 49th minute. Pasargad’s Martin Weidmar caught the ball off a corner and slotted it past keeper Paolo Pascual.

However, that seemed to wake Global from complacency, and at the 51st minute, Izo Elhabbib took the equalizer back. Izo got the rebound off a weird save by Nsangou, who had used his knees to block the ball, the ball bounced and fell to Izo’s feet.

There were attempts aplenty for Global after that, and at the 57th minute, Hoshide made it 3-1 for Global, off an assist by Guirado.

At the 65th, another made goal, this time from Mark Hartmann, was flagged offside. However, Hartmann made it 4-1 just a minute later.

There were a couple of attempts from Pasargad, but none of them seemed to really rattle Pascual anymore. There were even more attempts from Global, but none saw the back of the net anymore, as the game ended at  4-1.

“That was not the performance I wanted from the team today,” said Global coach Leigh Manson, who remarked that his team looked sluggish after the opening goal.

The Scot praised Hoshide, who had come on as a substitute for two straight games and immediately made a difference. Manson, however, gave his team just an average score. “5 out of 10. But, can't be too disappointed."

Global remain at the top of the standings and only need to win 3 of their last 5 games to ensure that they walk away with the League title. Manson, however, is not about to sit on laurels just yet.

Global now face a short break and the loss of the Azkals who are going to camp and the Challenge Cup. Global is also playing in the Singapore Cup at the end of the month before UFL action resumes in the first week of June.
 

 

 



Sunday games

The first game on Sunday had no more bearing on the title race, as both Stallion and Army-GTI are no longer in it. The residents behind the grandstand were having a videoke party on an otherwise quiet night, as fans from both teams, especially Army-GTI were quite quiet. Both teams, however, were not just about to roll over and play dead.
 


Early attempts by Stallion went skyward. However Army-GTI keeper Victorino Troyo did a good job with the attempts that went near his goal. Army-GTI regular keeper Ed Sacapano is currently on loan to Ceres FC for the AFC President's Cup.

At the 30th minute, a penalty was called for a foul inside the box, as a Stallion defender had knocked down an Army-GTI player. The penalty was taken and made by Min Young Gi. The goalscorer would subbed out for Jeon Shin Seok right before the halftime break.

There was a questionable offside call right before the whistle was blown for the half. Army-GTI was bearing down on Stallion, with about a third of both teams running down when the linesman put his flag up. Of course the whole Army-GTI bench jumped up to complain, especially because they saw that particular possession as a scoring chance, but they still had the lead doing into the break.

Less than ten minutes into the second half, Army-GTI keeper Troyo went down hard on the pitch after a save and was not moving for a few moments. He had to be stretchered off the pitch and then was replaced Seo Seung Seok.

At the 68th minute, straight reds were shown to Stallion’s Naser Doroudian and Army-GTI’s Wilson dela Cruz. After what dela Cruz deemed was unnecessarily rough play by Doroudian, he swung around to retaliate with a closed fist punch that did not connect. Both teams were down to 10 men.

Two minutes later, Junior Gaye equalized for Stallion FC.

There were several close calls for Army-GTI, but their defense bailed the keeper out time and again until an unstoppable strike by Sean Bateau made it 2-1 for Stallion at the 82nd minute.

Seven minutes were added because of all the stops during the game, but Army-GTI could not come up with another goal and the game ended at 2-1 for Stallion.

“Too much testosterone,” laughed Stallion coach Ernie Nierras when asked about the red cards.

“We'd be in a better situation if we had played like this starting in the First Round,” he added, before explaining that he did not play Simone Rota so he can rest for Azkals duty, while Balot Doctora was also subbed out early for the same reason.


The Kaya versus Pachanga game saw a more animated crowd in the stands, as the Ultras Kaya and Pachanga’s supporters were definitely more vocal than the previous game’s fans.

There were several suspensions served out during the game. For Kaya, OJ Porteria was out because of a straight red card in his last game. Pachanga was missing Davide Cortina, Shayan Jafari, and Nathan Octavio.

From the onset, the game was played at avery high physical level. A yellow card was shown as early as the 12th minute, to Jayson Cutamora from Pachanga.

A minute later, there was an an attempt from Pablo Rodriguez and Pachanga keeper Steve Yambou was off his line. The ball was kicked out by Alu Kigbu, but he collided with Kaya’s Masanari Omura, who was sidelined but was able to step back into the game briefly. Omura was replaced by Andre Liauw at the 19th minute.

Three minutes later, Emmanuel Mbata came on for Pablo, who had hurt his arm. Kaya coach David Perkovic would later say that he broke his arm during play.

After a save, Yambou threw the ball from just outside the box, and the resulting free kick was taken by Richard Greer. The ball emphatically hit the frame at the very corner and rattled out. Minutes later, Greer went up against Nate Burkey and then Greer went down on the pitch clutching his knee. Thomas Luke Taylor had to be sent on for Greer at the 30th minute, Kaya’s third substitution in the first half.

Four minutes later saw a good save by Nick O'Donnell on a Burkey attempt. "Grind it out until the half time, boys!" coach Perkovic was heard shouting from the Kaya bench.

Two minutes were added to the half, but it felt too short considering all the injuries and substitutions.

Aly Borromeo was sent on after the break, replacing Miguel Tanton who had turned his ankle in the first half. Borromeo moved better during this game than in the Kaya game versus Stallion.

Three minutes into the second half, Yoon Jang Ho’s header made it 1-0 for Pachanga. He received the ball inside the box, off a cross from Cutamora.

The physical play continued into the second half, and a yellow card was shown to Taylor on a particularly hard challenge on Burkey. At the 65th minute, double yellows were shown to Kigbu and Alfred Osei after a hard collision. Four minutes later, Liauw was booked on a kick on Pachanga’s Anto Gonzales. Gonzales briefly got in Liauw’s face before being pulled away.

There was a great link-up play between Jinggoy Valmayor, who had come in as a substitute, and Burkey, but Burkey took too much time with the ball and the defense caught up.

A yellow card was shown to Pachanga substitute Raffy Cabug at the 80th minute. And then it was all downhill for Pachanga.

Yambou still had a couple of great saves, denying Kaya the equalizer. However, after one of his saves, the referee whistled the goalkeeper for a six-second violation. And then there was further confusion in the game, as the referee had failed to send off Kigbu after a second yellow. At the end of the chaos, Pachanga was down to 10 men.

The indirect free kick awarded to Kaya because of the ball-handling was taken by Chris Greatwich and the ball went to Anton del Rosario, who equalized at the 84th minute.

The last few minutes of the game were crazy, as Kaya looked determined to win and Pachanga was determined not to give an inch. But a minute before the end of regulation, Greatwich made it 2-1 for Kaya.

There were three minutes of added time and one more good stop by Yambou, but it could not make up for the goal that Pachanga had conceded.

“It felt a little bit like highway robbery,” said Coach Perkovic after the game. “They took advantage of the four injuries in the first half.” He added that after all the injuries he knew that it wasn't going to be a pretty performance. “But they showed character, they dug deep.

“I'm sick and tired of talking about title hopes,” Perkovic said with a chuckle, “[But] glad for the break so that the team can recuperate,” he continued and enumerated the injuries that Kaya encountered in that game alone.

Pachanga coach Noel Marcaida looked beyond disappointed after the game. “The breaks of the game went Kaya's way,” he said, remarking that it started with the six-second call on Yambou.

“Everyone’s upset,” Marcaida said. “Kaya had the game in the last 15, we played good football in the first 75 minutes. [It was a] lucky win for Kaya,” the coach ended with a shrug.

The win propelled Kaya above the Loyola Meralco Sparks. Both teams have 40 points but Kaya have a game in hand and are already ahead on goal difference. Going into the international break, it looks more likely that Kaya will be the only team with the ability to challenge Global for the League title.  - AMD, GMA News
Tags: uflseason, globalfc, kayafc, loyolameralcosparksfc, greenarchersunitedfc
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