Kaya FC–Iloilo Suffers Defeat Once More at Biñan Against Stallion Laguna
Stallion Laguna 2-0 Kaya FC–Iloilo
Biñan Football Stadium
July 21, 2018 — For the first time in the Philippines Football League season, Kaya FC–Iloilo suffered consecutive losses, after falling to Stallion Laguna, 2-0, at the Biñan Football Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Goals from Ruben Doctora Jr. and Carlos Polli steered the home side to victory in what was Kaya’s second straight game without finding the back of the net.
Iloilo threatened early in the match with a surging run from Connor Tacagni. The forward cut the ball back for Jovin Bedic, but his strike went well over. Stallion then started knocking on the door with Abou Sy and Nathan Alquiros both breaching the visitors’ backline to carve out chances. The breakthrough came in the 27th minute. From a fortunate touch into Kaya’s box, Camelo Tacusalme failed to make contact with a tricky bounce, allowing Ruben Doctora to slip past and slot in the ball for an easy finish. Iloilo had a fantastic opportunity to respond right before the break, but Eric Giganto couldn’t keep his toe poke down.
Shortly after the hour mark, Miguel Tanton looked to have leveled the score, when his free kick sailed over everyone and was clawed away by Felipe Tripulca Jr. The Kaya players appealed that the ball had crossed the line prior to the keeper’s intervention, but the officials weren’t convinced. To make matters worse, Laguna doubled their lead not long after. Abou Sy’s stinging long range effort forced a fine stop from Ace Villanueva, but the keeper’s save fell into the path of Fitch Arboleda, who calmly cut the ball back for Polli to slot in.
“The first goal we could’ve done better. We were bullied in that first goal, and that’s what happened in this game,” said a disappointed Noel Marcaida after the match. “For me there are two main points where we need to improve. We didn’t win the second balls — all second balls, Stallion collected. The second one is we didn’t take chances. We were able to create chances, but we didn’t take shots. All throughout the 90 minutes I think we only had two shots on goal.”
The disappointment of the result overshadowed the debuts of new signing Serge Kaole, and recently activated youngster Arnel Amita. While Kaole played a full 90 minutes, it was the diminutive midfielder that caught the eye in a 20-minute outing.
“I think Nano (Amita) played well. When he came in, he improved the midfield by his willingness to receive the ball in between defenders. He was also the first player to give a hard tackle in the game — the smallest man on the pitch,” said the Iloilo head coach. “I’d love to see Nano play more minutes in our upcoming games.”
“We are expecting more [from Serge Kaole]. He tried hard, but it’s his first game. Maybe in the next game we’ll see more of Serge Kaole and he can be more productive in the position that we give him.”
Without top scorer Robert Lopez Mendy, who was sent off early in the last match against Ceres Negros, Kaya FC–Iloilo have struggled to find the net.
“Kaya FC isn’t just Robert Lopez Mendy. We have 24 players on the roster. Whoever is available, we trust them. When players are suspended, we have other plans. It just didn’t work well today, so next time we’ll have to adjust and focus on our strength,” he said.
The result moved Stallion to 24 points, a solitary point behind third placed Davao Aguilas. Kaya FC–Iloilo, meanwhile, remains in second with 33 points.
