By Kevin Estrada
MANILA—JP Voltes pulled the biggest shock of the season,
coming from a goal behind to snatch the win away from Kaya in a thrilling match
to cap off the Saturday doubleheader at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Taking a page off the famous anime series, the biggest
surprise of the season showed their fighting heart, pulling the rug in the
closing moments of the match as they scored three goals in a span of five
minutes for a 3-1 win.
With the shocking win which was their third straight, Yu
Hoshide’s Voltes also vaulted to second in the table today with nineteen
points, one more than idle Loyola and Ceres and only two behind unbeaten
leaders Global.
“I shouted at them at halftime, and good thing they wake up
and inspired us to win,” the former Global veteran quipped after the match.
With James Younghusband watching, both sides came from
contrasting situations last Wednesday, as Voltes came from another come from
behind triumph over Green Archers United, while Kaya saw their supposed fixture
against Agila-MSA called off for bad weather.
However, the three-time UFL champions showed the way in a
fairly contested encounter, as OJ Porteria calmly opened the scoring from the
spot five minutes into the match after Robert Lopez-Mendy was fouled by JPV
keeper Nelson Gasic.
“Dumikit siya sa akin, then he reacted,” Gasic commented on
the early call made by referee Clifford Daypuyat.
From then on, Kaya dominated matters as they try to put the
playoff winners of last season back into their place but they rue their missed
chances as they went to the changing rooms 1-0 ahead at the half.
Those were pounced by Voltes at the restart as they created
several opportunities, but Tadashi Odawara’s header in the 59th
minute came closest, but it was denied by the post.
As the time ticked away, Voltes finally came back to life in
the final nine minutes of the match, as Takumi Uesato leveled the match with a
neatly placed header from their playing manager’s corner kick to set up the .
With momentum now swinging in their favor, Voltes shockingly
took the lead four minutes after their equalizer, with Odawara beats Matt Acton on a
counter and fired home from a tight angle.
Uesato then completed the improbable a minute after their
marginal strike with an early contender for the goal of the season. From their
own half, he launched a 50-yard long bomb that caught the Australian custodian
by surprise and bounced into the empty net, sparking wildest celebrations from
their supporters.
“Very happy,” an astonished Uesato said after the stunning
strike.
Follow him on Twitter: @KevinLEstrada
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