UFL: Loyola beats Army GTI 5-1; Global downs Kaya 2-1

MANILA, Philippines – It was a dream that lasted only a couple of days for the retooled Philippine Army – GTI side as the Loyola Meralco Sparks brought them back to reality with a 5-1 thumping in the United Football League on Saturday afternoon, January 18, at the Emperador Stadium in Taguig City.

Phil Younghusband led the Sparks tonight as he scored a brace from both halves and assisted on another, stirring Army – which recently tied up with General Trias International – out of ecstasy after opening their 2014 campaign with a 4-0 win over Team Socceroo.

For Loyola, it was a proper follow-up to their 4-0 shutout of Global FC in their first game in the 2014 season as they compose themselves ahead of the pack early on in the race for this year’s League competition title.

It all looked like a toe-to-toe matchup in the first half as Philippine Army, bolstered by their Korean contingent from the GTI squad, made themselves big on both ends of the pitch early on but parity was broken in the 26th minute when Matthew Hartmann found Younghusband alone with the keeper to jumpstart what would become a goalfest for Loyola.

Seong Wook Hong, who started again on goal for Army, started the match decently as he denied much of Loyola’s early attempts but Sam Bonney – running from all the way from the backline this time – tallied in Loyola’s second goal 10 minutes from halftime to give the Sparks a 2-goal cushion approaching the break.

Just like in their season opener against Global, Fred Gonzalez once again came out of the halftime break roaring as he scored his second goal in as many games in the 50th, to make it a comfortable 3-0 scoreline for Loyola.

Army, however, took one back as the Azkals connection between Roel Gener and Nestorio Margarse produced their side’s lone goal in the 61st from a play off a corner to reduce their deficit back to 2 goals, 1-3.

Lee Won Hyung came up with a positive response for Loyola as he makes it 4-1, 15 minutes later when Younghusband fed him with a neat assist.

The Azkals’ leading scorer then capped his night with a second goal when he found the net off a free kick in the 83rd, sealing the deal for Loyola who ran away with a 5-1 win.

With the win, Loyola grabs the number one spot in the table with 2 wins in 2 games while Army drops to 1-1.

 Army – GTI returns to action on Thursday, January 23 against the Green Archers United while Loyola will face Pasargad next on Saturday, January 25.

Global downs Kaya 2-1

MANILA, Philippines – After finding themselves on the receiving end of Loyola’s goals galore last week, Global FC needed to bounce back from a bad season opener to put their 2014 campaign back on track.

And bounce back was exactly what they did on Saturday, January 18, when they edged Kaya FC, 2-1, behind the goals of Charles Pettys and Valentine Kama, in a United Football League match at the Emperador Stadium in Taguig City.

The game did not start the way Global would have wanted it, however, as OJ Porteria opened up the scoring right away, finding himself on the counter to bank in a 3rd minute goal over Global’s second-choice keeper Paolo Pascual.

But the Azkals winger Porteria turned from hero to zero as he was shown a straight red card less than 10 minutes later, reducing Kaya to only 10 men, which Global was able to capitalize for most of the match.

Looking good on the pitch because of the manpower advantage, Global tied the game in the 28th minute when Misagh Bahadoran found Pettys for an easy-looking goal to make it a 1-1 affair.

Kama then wrapped up the scoring for Global when he deceived Kaya keeper Nick O’Donnel less than 10 minutes before halftime to take the lead at 2-1.

Both teams then engaged in a back-and-forth battle in the second half but Global had answers to every Kaya FC attempt to equalize. Kaya came closest to scoring a goal in the 77th when Joven Bedic fired one inside the box but Pascual did well to stop the shot.

Jeff Christiaens could have doubled his team’s lead inside the last five minutes of regulation when Ben Starosta fed him with a tasty cross but O’Donnel was up to the task to keep the score still until the final whistle.

The result brought Global together with Kaya at 1-1 in the standings as Loyola sits atop after a 5-1 win over Army in the curtain raiser.

Global will play Pasargad FC on Tuesday, January 21, while Kaya and Team Socceroo square off on Thursday, January 23 still at the Emperador Stadium.