Header Ads Widget

La Salle shows heart, salvages last gasp stalemate with UST

Showing heart, La Salle nicked a valuable point away from UST, with Jose Montelibano nabbed the equalizer at the death.
By Kevin Estrada

MANILA -- Another day of UAAP men's football concluded Sunday evening, as La Salle came from behind twice to nick a point against a game UST side to cap off the tripleheader here at the Rizal Memorial.

Junior midfielder Jose Montelibano struck a last-gasp equalizer to save the blushes of the Green Archers for a 2-2 draw who earned their first point since winning against UE last February 12 but they remain in fifth in the table with their fifth point after five matches, two behind the season hosts who occupied the final postseason spot.

Sophomore forward Jayson Rafol could have given the Growling Tigers all three points by scoring in each half for a brace on  his birthday but the heart of the Archers were too big to handle for them.

In a highly charged affair, the physicality of the game was evident when the referee whistled for 14 fouls, 11 of them against La Salle that draw the ire of Hans-Peter Smit and his entire staff.  

UST's speed got the better of the heft of La Salle, as the former got more shots on target and more corners.

The cat-quick reaction of the Tigers was displayed to the hilt, Rafol took the lead for UST in the 25th minute with a rebound off a botched clearance from a free kick, but Paeng Garcia equalized with his own shot to the bottom cormer 12 minutes later to level matters at the half.


Five minutes into the restart, the speed of the Tiger booters shone and Rafol confidently struck one from close range to regain the lead for his brace.

But the fireworks start to unravel in the dying moments of the match, as Darryl Regala ignited a commotion by headbutting Mauro Acot which sent him to the books for his troubles.

And that set up a frantic finish at the death as Montelibano smacked the rebound past Zaldy Abraham for the well-deserved point for the Green Archers.

Follow him on Twitter: @KevinLEstrada