Kaya topples Loyola in rain-marred UFL match

A heavy downpour didn’t stop Kaya FC from pulling off a 3-1 upset against the Loyola Meralco Sparks in United Football League action Tuesday night at the Emperador Stadium in Mckinley Hill in Taguig.

As rain poured midway through the second half, Kaya was holding a comfortable 3-1 lead when officials decided to suspend the match for 15 minutes at the 83rd minute. The game eventually resumed, with both teams failing to score a goal after the long lull.

Star midfielder Chris Greatwich gave Kaya its first lead with a shot off a corner kick at the 19th minute.

But Loyola star James Younghusband buried a header thanks to a cross by Jeong Byeong Yeol at the 34th minute to help the Sparks tie the match at 1-1.

Veteran defender Anton del Rosario answered with a goal moments after as he fired a shot from the top of the box at the 45th minute to give Kaya a 2-1 edge going into the halftime break.

Loyola then made a costly mistake at the start of the second half, as goalkeeper Ref Cuaresma committed a foul after a hard tackle on Kaya’s Nate Burkey inside the box at the 56th minute.

That play led to a penalty shot for Kaya, which Greatcwich sank at the 57th minute to lift Kaya to a commanding 3-1 lead which the Sparks couldn’t recover from.

The result helped Kaya improve its win-draw-loss record to 5-6-3 and gain 21 points, but remained at fifth place behind Pachanga Diliman FC, which has 22 points to show.

Meanwhile, the Sparks dropped only its second match of the season while sporting 10 wins and two draws to remain at third spot in the League table with 32 points.

Source:

http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/kaya-topples-loyola-in-rain-marred-ufl-match

Karl Decena, InterAKTV · Tuesday, May 14, 2013 · 10:19 pm