UFL Cup Tuesday: Stallion, Nomads win in Marikina
Stallion 6, Sta. Lucia 0.
Stallion gave their sister team a rude welcome to the UFL Cup with a big rout last Tuesday night in the Marikina Sports Park.
Rufo Familiar Sanchez, one of two Spanish off-season acquisitions for Stallion, had a mythical evening, scoring the first five goals, with Pi Yong Jae adding the sixth with five minutes to play.
The result leaves Stallion at three points from two games after a 2-0 opening loss to Army in Group D.
Rufo pounced on an error from the defense to drive home the opener in the ninth minute.
Fourteen minutes later it was 2-0 as Rufo latched on to a perfect through ball from Jovanie "Manok" Simpron to make it 2-0.
Just two minutes later the Spaniard had a hat trick as he headed past the very tentative Sta. Lucia keeper.
In the 36th minute Rufo had his fourth after Antonio "Bulldog" Albor delivered another splendid vertical pass that he dinked home.
Rufo's day darkened in the 62nd when he was shown a yellow card for a studs-up challenge. The scoring machine will now miss Stallion's next game against winless Agila on October 28.
Sanchez had picked up his first yellow in the loss to Army.
But six minutes later he looped in his fifth goal from an acute angle after the goalkeeper was caught off his line. Simpron started the move with a quick throw-in. Sanchez later on admitted it was his favorite goal among the five.
Simpron could have gotten on the score sheet but his penalty attempt in the 80th minute sailed over the bar.
Five minutes later Pi Yong Jae made it 6-0 off a pass from Lee Won Hyung.
Two other players showed promise for Stallion: midfielder Jomar Lestingio who nearly scored in the 78th, and tricky right-winger Romeo Martinez. In his Stallion debut he impressed with some neat moves out of the right flank.
Nomads 1, Pachanga 0.
A bizarre own goal by Pachanga defender Yves Ashime spelled the difference as Nomads won their second match in Group C.
In the 31st minute Ashime received a high ball inside the penalty area and apparently heard keeper Manuel Saubach calling for the ball. He nodded it back in the direction of the goal.
Just one problem; Saubach wasn't there because he had gone up to grab it directly.
The ball bounced into the net, and that turned out to be the only goal of the match.
"If I'm Yves and I hear the keeper call for it I have to get out" remarked Jeff Blake, Nomad's regular keeper who was injured but was at the game.
However in fairness to the Ivorian defender, considered by some to be the best centerback in the league, perhaps he understood that Saubach wanted the ball headed to him so he could handle it.
Saubach replaced regular Pachanga keeper Ken Dolloso after Dolloso fled to Pasargad. Obviously the keeper and the defense are still in getting-to-know-you phase.
At any rate it ruined a good performance from Pachanga, who out worked and shot a decimated Nomads team but could not find the net for themselves.
Pachanga is stuck on three points, level with idle Loyola, with the Sparks having a game in hand.
Guam International Jason Cunliffe had several attempts for Pachanga that were all either off the mark or saved.
Boyet Canedo had a hard right footer in the eleventh that was saved well by Nomads' keeper Friso Klok.
Canedo and Ousseynou Diop were both influential and dangerous in the midfield but neither could breach the Nomads defense.
Winger Jay Eusebio was put into the game by Pachanga coach Bob Salvacion to replace the ineffective Janrick Soriano in the 75th minute, but his best chance, off a looping through-ball from Canedo, went over the bar.
Pachanga still have to face Loyola in this very competitive group.
Some thoughts on the Marikina Sports Park.
To my knowledge this is the first UFL game in Marikina but I hope it won't be the last. It was my first time to watch a game there since the 2005 SEA Games, when our ladies lost to Myanmar. In general I give it good marks.
The pitch was hard and patchy but definitely much better than the marshland/desert at the University of Makati. Low passes on the ground can be made there without the ball dancing around too much.
No doubt it is superior to the Nuvali fields, which I am told are even worse than Umak.
UFL Match Commissioner Ritchie Gannaban had sand placed on some of the dips and valleys in the pitch the night before the games to level the pitch a bit.
The field itself is narrow. I estimate about 60 meters wide, which is 8 less than most regulation pitches. I walked off the distance from the edge of the penalty area to the sidelines and got about 10 meters.
There is a bicycle lane within the running track that robs the field of a few more meters of width.
It's still much wider than the phonebooth that is Turf BGC and is fine for league games.
The pitch is flat, unlike Umak, which is a tarmac shape, meaning the middle is elevated and the sides much lower.
The biggest problem is the lack of proper goals. The goals used on Tuesday use thinner tubing than what we are used to. The height of the crossbar looks about right but the posts are definitely a wee bit too close to each other. That only adds to the amazingness of Rufo's hat-trick-plus-two.
As you can also see by this picture, the goals are not in good shape. A hard shot to this corner and the crossbar will bid adieu to the post.
Gannaban told me that there used to be a good set of goals there but Ondoy washed them away in 2009. Certainly a proper set needs to be installed soon.
There are two grandstands, with the West stand separated from the pitch by both the track and some basketball courts. The East stand is much closer. Both stands are well-elevated, so even if you are on the first row you are about 15 feet above the action, which is terrific.
If you're taking in a game here, go for the nearer East stand.
The stands vibrate a lot when people walk in the higher seats. I was sitting with Belay Fernando, Sabrina Nierras, and the suspended Balot Doctora for the first game. At first we thought we were experiencing an earthquake. Unsettling, but we got used to it.
The lighting at Marikina is much brighter than Umak, but players probably don't like the low lights on top of the grandstand roof since high balls tend to get lost in them.
There is a cable that is stretched over the field in the south half. In the 70th minute of the Pachanga match the ball got caught up into it. That wire obviously needs to go.
All in all I give Marikina Sports Park a thumbs-up. The field is superior to Umak and that makes the biggest difference. It's weedy and bare in spots, but so is every other field in town save for Rizal Memorial. All things considered, Marikina is still less uneven than most.
I am glad UFL scheduled a game there because it also brings the league to another part of town where it can gain new fans.
You can follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
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