MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Army Fritz and Macziol rallied to force a 2-2 draw with Philippine Air Force Phoenix in what turned out to be a hotly-contested rematch today in the 2012 United Football League (UFL) at the University of Makati football field.
Nine yellow cards and one red card were issued in the match that meant so much for the defending champion Air Force.
The Airmen went ahead on a penalty kick from Ian Araneta — a result of Jeoffrey Lobaton's red card for a fighting stance against referee Rey Ritaga.
The Airmen, who needed to win today’s match to stay alive, suffered a big blow when Army's Romano Vestal scored on high-arching goal that went over the outstretched hands of goalie Tats Mercado in the 71st minute.
The draw virtually eliminated the defending champion Airmen from the title race as they could only muster 13 points in 12 matches (3-4-5 win-draw-loss) with only six assignments left and 17 points behind league leader Global (10-0-2).
Air Force controlled most of the match until Vistal's stunning goal.
Yanti Barsales connected with a header from Surgeant Montillano’s pass in the 25th minute to give Air Force an early 1-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, Meliton Pelayo tied the match with his own header three minutes later, setting the tone for a repeat of their first round meeting, which ended in a similar 2-all standoff.
Philstar
