Kaya, Stallion try to keep up with UFL leaders as they take on separate foes

By Karlo Sacamos

KAYA and Stallion FC try to stay within striking distance of the leaders as they take on separate foes on Thursday night in the United Football League at the Emperador Stadium in Mckinley Hill.

Running third and fourth in the nine-team standings, Kaya and Stallion face Philippine Army and Pasargad, respectively, as they hope to keep in step with leaders Loyola and Global, which are both starting to pull away from the field.

Kaya, which tangles with the Troopers in the curtain-raiser at 5:15 p.m., turned back Pasargad, 3-1, last Thursday and has been consistently lurking behind the leaders thanks to Azkals OJ Porteria and Chris Greatwich and the stewardship of Australian mentor David Perkovic.

The Stallions, on the other hand, started their title-retention bid slowly following the departure of their championship core led by Rufo Sanchez, Joaco Cañas, and Lee Joo Young.

But the defending champions are now steadily moving up the ranks and returned to contention as they moved three places up following their 3-0 shutout of the Troopers last Saturday.

“Anybody can still win this,” Stallions coach Ernie Nierras said. “You can’t really predict what’s gonna happen until the middle of second round when things start to take shape.”

“So you can’t take anybody for granted,” the outspoken mentor added as his retooled squad squares off against cellar-dwelling Pasargad at 7:30 p.m.

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