LONDON – Superior goal difference paid off in the end after the United Kingdom’s first amateur Filipino football team, the Philippine Football Club (PFC), narrowly survived relegation from Division One of the West Hertfordshire League.
The British Pinoys recently ended their 2011-2012 campaign in 10th place – just one spot above the drop zone.
After 22 matches, they picked up 20 points, recording five wins, five draws and 12 losses.
Glenn Sports shared an identical record, but finished below PFC in 11th place because of a 15-goal deficit. As a result, they were relegated to Division Two.
PFC’s players were relieved to avoid dropping out of the 12-team league.
“I think it’s a great achievement considering our circumstances. We’re a good enough team and shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place,” said full back Cliff Gay-ya.
“It was important for us to stay in this tier of the league for team morale,” he added.
In their fourth from final game of the season, PFC defeated Glenn Sports 2-0, courtesy of late goals from forwards Jason Arroyo and Raymond Tordecilla.
That victory released some pressure, but club secretary Jesse Arroyo admitted he was still concerned.
“Being in the relegation places in the last couple of matches was worrying. The team was not used to being in such a position. With this lack of familiarity, I would say we were quite naive,” commented Arroyo.
“We have learnt many lessons. We will use this as fuel for the following season,” he added.
Their poor showing this season has been attributed to a number of factors, including injuries, lack of team depth, not enough training and the changing of coaching personnel.
Most of PFC’s players also made a mid-season trip to the Philippines to play four friendlies in Bacolod. They feel the experience was valuable, but recognize that it may have compromised their league position.
More :
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/05/30/12/pinoy-squad-survives-relegation-uk-league
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1 week ago
funny....a league or an FC that is not in the country was featured on the news by the abs...while the national under 23 championship was seldomly feature....
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