 |
| UFL |
By Kevin Estrada
MANILA-- Loyola needed a second half display by the Younghusband brothers to jolt Forza, firing four goals without any reply to temporarily move up to the top of the league table in the first of UFL's Saturday doubleheader here earlier at Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Skipper James Younghusband and younger brother Phil each bagged a brace for manager Simon McMenemy, whose Sparks overcame a stubborn Forza defence to pull away in the middle of the second half to register their fifth win in six matches to move up on top of the table temporarily above idle Global.
Both sides came from contrasting results from their midweek matches. With Loyola were on the victorious side of an 11-0 rout of Agila-MSA, Forza were on the wrong end of a ten-goal trashing by Ceres in which they played the match two men short of full strength.
After a lethargic and uninspiring first half, Loyola got to work and bossed the second half.
The Azkals skipper duly drew first blood with his free kick that hit the top left corner eleven minutes into the restart.
Then eleven minutes later James received Phil's cross to fire from the right side of the box to double Loyola's advantage.
The elder of the famed siblings bagged his brace with twenty minutes left on almost the same spot to triple their advantage.
With six minutes left, Phil tallied the final count with his chip shot that went over a hapless Abu Ibrahim and into the net.
McMenemy lamented the scoreline as well as Forza's preference on playing on defence, as he thinks they should have won by more.
"Horrible," the Scotsman described the match. "You've coach to play against the team that at least attack, not defend all the time.", he added.
But he later commend the performance of the Younghusband brothers, most notably on younger Phil for getting back to full match fitness ahead of their next assignments in the first round.
"It's good to see he [Phil] and James playing well together.", the former Azkals gaffer concluded.
Follow him on Twitter: @KevinLEstrada
.jpg)
