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Ceres downs Kaya in battle of unbeaten squads

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Almost the entire Ateneo community is on joyous mood after what its women's volleyball did on Saturday night except for a former football King Eagle, who finally conceded two goals after four straight clean sheets

Those two goal were enough for his franchise's opponent to hand his team its first loss of the season.

Ceres once again banked on an early attack to beat Kaya, 2-1, in a UFL meeting at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Former Ateneo men's football team standout Nick O'Donnell's goalless streak came to an end as the Kaya goalkeeper failed to save Patrick Reichelt's 14th minute goal.

Seven minutes later, Reichelt sent a cross to Adrian Gallardo, who headed in Ceres' second goal. Reichelt then tried to make it 3-0 a few more moments later, but O'Donnell was able to recover the ball in time before it went in.

O.J. Porteria scored one back for Kaya at the 26th minute after going all the way to the box and shots the ball past Michael Casas. Porteria had a chance to beat Casas again, but the latter saved the ball.

Reichelt again had an opportunity to frustrate O'Donnell late in the first half as Reichelt headed the ball past O'Donnell, but the header went wide.

Chris Greatwich had a huge chance to open the second half with a goal as he found himself alone against Casas, but Greatwich misfired the potential equalizer.

Porteria then made a surprise attack in the 50th minute as he sneaked to the goal line and blasted a shot that Casas saved.

Martin Steuble had a great chance to stretch Ceres' lead, but his shot hit the top bar, and the Kaya defenders recovered the ball.

Frustration began to mount for Kaya as Richard Greer gave a hard foul on Reichelt in the 64th minute that the latter did not like, triggering a confrontation. Both players got booked for the altercation. Greatwich, Jorge Butron, and Miguel Tanton also got yellow cards.

Gallardo also had his header hitting the bar, and substitute Jovin Bedic, who almost played hero as Kaya nearly completed a comeback from 0-3 down in their previous meeting at the Smart-PFF Club Championship two months ago, got a sorry miss as well as his potential game-tying goal hit the post as well.

With the win, its fourth straight in as many matches, Ceres is now the only unbeaten club left in the league table and moved to a point behind Global in the league table, forcing a four-way tie for second in the process. Ceres has two matches at hand.