Kaya FC–Iloilo Undone by Stallion Laguna’s Second Half Surge

Miguel Tanton continued his impressive run of goals against Stallion Laguna on Saturday afternoon, but his well taken free kick was made into a consolation by three second half goals by the hosts.

“Stallion Laguna were the better side today. We allowed them to play their game,” said Kaya head coach Noel Marcaida. “I just feel bad because, we worked hard in training to stop their transitions, but we didn’t execute in the second half.”

15 minutes into a commanding start to the game, Kaya opened the scoring. Robert Lopez Mendy was bundled over right at the edge of the Stallion box. In the resulting free kick, Miguel Tanton curled the ball perfectly into the left side netting. Unfortunately for the visitors, the smooth start to the match wouldn’t last much longer. By the time goalkeeper Ref Cuaresma was forced off after a dangerous collision with Jhan Jhan Melliza, Laguna were on the ascendancy. His replacement, Ace Villanueva, asserted himself well in his first test of his Kaya debut, denying Ruben Doctora’s attempted lob right before the break. The second period would prove much more difficult.

“We were able to start playing the way we wanted to play and that opened things up for us. That started at the end of the first half. We started getting our chances. At half time, the mood was still positive,” said Stallion head coach Ernie Nierras.

Just five minutes into the second period, Nathan Alquiros was brought down by Jalsor Soriano inside the box. Carlo Polli dispatched of the subsequent penalty emphatically to tie the game. Seven minutes later, from a long throw, Laguna’s second was denied only by a goal line clearance by Camelo Tacusalme. The deadlock was eventually broken 13 minutes later.

Positioned outside his own box, Tacusalme misjudged his control on a low bouncing ball. The miscue presented Stallion with a path to goal, tempting Villanueva to race out of the box to intervene. With Kaya’s defense scrambling to cover the sudden hole in their line, Melliza was found wide open in the center for an easy tap in.

Iloilo threw on Eric Giganto in an attempt to chase the equalizer, but chances proved few and far between for the visitors. To make matters worse, Fitch Arboleda hammered in a third to put the result beyond doubt.

“We need to get back to the drawing board and fix our mistakes quickly before facing Stallion again next week at our home,” said Marcaida.

The result gave Stallion their second win of the season, and Kaya’s second loss in four matches. The two teams meet again on Sunday, April 22, 7pm, at the University of Makati.