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Davao draws with Negros in Maro's debut

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Davao came close to finally scoring a win in the PFL but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Negros in the only match that pushed through on Wednesday night at the Davao Del Norte Sports Complex in Tagum.

James Younghusband's conversion off a free kick from his younger brother Phil was canceled out by Fernando Rodriguez's header off a cross as both sides had to split the points.

The older Younghusband found himself with the ball from pointblank range as Harry Sawyer's header was heavily contested, and James simply struck a powerful shot past Roland Muller for the 1-0 count at the 27th minute.

But Rodriguez got the goal back at the 73rd minute when he converted a close range header off a cross.

Davao had a golden chance to finally get all three points as the team made a header off a free kick in the 84th minute, but the assistant referee deemed the scorer offside and the goal was nullified.

Davao walked away with one point in Marlon Maro's first match since replacing Gary Philips as coach, but with only seven points after 16 games, the club now virtually needs to win all of its remaining matches to get a shot at the Final Four.

Negros, on the other hand, strengthened its hold of fourth place in the table with 29 points after 14 games.

The draw would have meant Negros will still be in fourth even if Laguna beats Cebu in the other scheduled match for Wednesday. The Cebu-Laguna match was postponed earlier Wednesday.


Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno