Cebu Football - USJ-R steals show from USC

By Mike Limpag

MARK Mejaran capped a stirring comeback as the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) surprised a complacent University of San Carlos (USC), 3-2, for their first win in the Cebu Amateur Football Club (CAFC) 10th National Interclub at the USC field yesterday.

USJ-R is now fourth with four points, while USC dropped to fifth with three points and lost its second straight game when it had the lead.

Doraemon zoomed to the top on goal difference with a 14-0 rout of Count FC, while idle CAFC dropped to second. Doraemon and CAFC both have seven points but the new no. 1 leads by three goals.

FC Intercebu, which routed Count FC last Monday, 8-2, is third with four points.

Yesterday, USC seemed headed for the third spot after getting ahead, 2-0, in the first half.

Free kick

Just 12 minutes in, Karl Arcenas volleyed in Kyle Soriano’s free kick for the first goal before Philip Kenei scored off a goal mouth scramble in the 42nd for a 2-0 lead.

In the second half, things turned around and USC, playing as if a two-goal lead was safe, lost the advantage in just 13 minutes.

Juvan Torres’s free kick deflected off the wall straight past Paolo Pascual in the 54th minute, while Robert Mamac’s bicycle in front of the goal put the team on level terms in the 58th.

USJ-R wasn’t finished.

USC’s defense was in shambles and it only had Bernard Rotich up front for offense. Rotich was so fast he had the defense in trouble keeping up.

His teammates, too, were too slow to catch up with him, while on the other end of the pitch, USJ-R had at least four attackers keeping the defense and Pascual busy.

Things got worse for USC in the 74th after referee Kurt Acre sent off Folk Hanes Anthony for an elbow, leaving an opening at left flank.

Mejaran took advantage and got his first chance in the 85th but hit the bar, four minutes later; he didn’t miss from point-blank range for the comeback.

USJ-R will next face Count FC today, while USC closes out its campaign against FC Intercebu on Thursday and needs a win—and for USJ-R to lose its last two games—to make the semifinals.

Men’s Open

In the first Men’s Open game, Joshua Fegidero was a man possessed as he scored 12 goals in Doraemon’s 14-0 win to bag the top spot.

Fegidero had six in each half and managed to accomplish their goal of overtaking CAFC even if the game was cut short by 10 minutes.

Jan Michael Abellana and Epifanio Ynot scored the other two goals for Doraemon, which used to play as Crazy Horse.

In the 17-Under games, Anton Aldeguer scored four times to lead Sacred Heart School-Jesuits, 14-0, over USC, while Blessed John XXIII Seminary beat Danao FC, 4-0.

Over at Springdale, Fug Sports defeated the host, 3-2, in the 12-Under match

Sun Star Cebu