LIPA—Stallion Laguna Football Club bested Global Cebu Football Club for the second time as they won 1-4 last night at the Aboitiz Pitch in Lipa, Batangas.
Stallion almost produced a repeat performance of their previous 1-5 win against Global in a dominant performance as they were able to create several half chances. However, they were able to convert the more clear-cut chances that opened up.
The squad showed how determined they are to reach the AFC Cup as they opened the scoring eight minutes into the match with Fitch Arboleda’s strike from outside the penalty area, and with captain Ruben Doctora Jr.’s tap-in from the 13th minute. Global were able to include themselves in the scoresheet when Charlie Beaton beat his former teammate Nelson Gasic in the 44th minute. However, Stallion answered immediately when Abou Sy converted a header in the dying minutes of the first half. Stallion kept on probing the Global defense on the second half, thanks to Nicolas Ferrer’s incursions into the right wing, and was able to convert their last goal for the evening in the 63rd minute, when Jesus Melliza buried his penalty kick on the bottom right of the home team’s goal.
The match also saw the Laguna side’s new signings prove themselves in their first match. Former Global players such as goalkeeper Nelson Gasic and Koichi Belgira’s performances showed that they were up to the task. Gasic proved himself to be a worthy addition to Stallion’s goalkeeping roster as he made several stops, and Belgira almost scored the same free kick that he scored against Stallion when he was still playing for Global.
Stallion Head Coach Ernest Nierras expressed his delight with what the two new Korean signings Seongpyo Yu and Jongcheol Park brought to the team, especially with Park occupying the central midfield to give Doctora freedom to return to his natural playing position in the wings.
“Kap is always dangerous down the wing. You cannot leave Ruben Doctora alone. He will punish you,” Nierras opined.
The match also saw defender Matthew Nierras return to action after being sidelined for eight months due to an ACL injury.
“As a dad, obviously I was nervous. I still had hesitations coming in, but he’s been playing a lot, he’s doing well in training. It was really nice that as soon as he got in, he had a really nice pass to Ferrer which shows you that he’s almost back. He just needs match fitness right now,” commented his father and coach about Matthew’s return to the pitch.
Man of the match Jesus Melliza shared the distinction among his teammates and stated the importance of teamwork and trusting the system.
“Sa akin naman ang kailangan lang, sundin namin ang coach namin, at kailangan talaga namin manalo. Di naman importante na man of the match ako, pero lahat kami man of the match, hindi lang ako. Work hard lang talaga, tsaka sundin yung game namin.”
Nierras also expressed his satisfaction with how the team is adhering more to his system, but comments on where the team could improve more.
“We still have to settle a little bit down more, we still wasted some opportunities, easy scores, but I think overall, it’s a big improvement from what we’ve been playing for the last three weeks. Overall, I’m satisfied with how they played because they followed how we want to attack, how we want to defend. We tried to make it as simple as possible, so we’re starting to get it now. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some consistency in how we play.”
(Stallion Laguna Football Club’s next opponents would be defending champions Ceres Negros Football Club and the match would be played this Wednesday at the Aboitiz Pitch in Lipa, Batangas.)
-Jervyn Pamatian
No comments:
Post a Comment