 |
| Balut Doctora led Stallion Laguna to its first win of the 7's FL season. |
By Dugout Philippines
TAGUIG – Thrilling fixtures were witnessed in Match Day 4 of the Season 3 Philam Life 7s Football League and Megaworld 7s Youth League on Sunday at the McKinley Hill Stadium.
Stallion Laguna FC and Futbol Funatics have finally joined in the win column while Bohemian SC, Real Amigos, Ghana FC, and Super Eagles have imposed their will against their respective opponents.
The Super Eagles appeared to be in midseason form as they continued their undefeated streak by annihilating H&J All-Stars with a score of 8-nil.
Ebi Cleopas and Stanley Eden notched two goals apiece while Uzo Okoli, Charles Ujam, Olisa Anene, and Tony Okoh chipped in one each.
“Actually, it’s all about teamwork – one person cannot take all the glory. What was going through my mind was we needed this win, and we needed to go. That was what motivated me during the game,” said Eden.
“The strategy is just the same thing – we take every team seriously. We stick to our gameplan and we have a brand of football that we like to play where we move the ball and we wanted to win convincingly,” bared Super Eagles head coach Danny Kross.
Bohemian SC, on the other hand, has won its third game of the season by putting up a strong comeback against the gritty Tondo FC with a score of 4-2.
Kenneth Obananaya poured in two goals while Ismael Qodourra and Farbod Mahmudi scored one each as well.
Tondo FC jumped out to an early lead in the first half as they tried imposing their physicality against Bohemian SC.
However, the latter emerged victorious especially when Bohemian SC head coach Mikee Carrion instructed his players to keep their focus and execute their gameplan.
“Tondo FC really gave us a hard time today. They came out really aggressive against us. I had to maintain the focus on the sidelines. It got into a pretty physical game. We’ve got to play a bit smarter, not fall into the provocations, some referees’ mistakes, some of our players complaining too much. You just got to continue playing and just focus on the game. Little by little, I think the team is picking up their game and I think we’re getting better,” shared Carrion.
Stallion Laguna also pulled off a successful come-from-behind win against Delimondo Laro by finishing the game with a 4-2 advantage.
Reynald Villareal scored two goals while Andoni Reyes and Ruben Doctora tallied one apiece.
It was the first victory by Stallion Laguna in Season 3.
“For us, this is a good start because of how many games we lost three times already. We needed to win this game. In the first half, we weren’t able to warm up because some of the players just arrived. Coming in the second half, we got our second wind already and we played well as a team,” said Doctora.
Real Amigos improved their record to 2-2 as they posted a clean sheet against Ceres, 3-0.
Johnson was able to score twice while Yohann put in one for Real Amigos.
Despite the convincing win, Real Amigos player Lerche Njang that the game was closer than it looks, and that Ceres made them work hard for it.
However, the team relied on its crisp passing as they cruised from start to finish.
“We knew that this was going to be a tough game. We knew that if we put the ball on the ground and start passing from the back, then we can capitalize on it. We have players who can shoot from distance, and we started from the back and take it to the wing, get the ball inside and shoot – that was the strategy. We always mentioned to pass the ball and there’s no need to rush – that was what we did, and we controlled it,” explained Njang.
In a battle of two undefeated teams, Ghana FC was able to take advantage against the undermanned Matu Deportivo squad, who were missing star Nico Bolzico and some key players.
The fixture ended with a score of 5-1, further extending Ghana FC’s winning streak to four games.
Ghana FC’s balanced firepower was in full display as Emmanuel Mbata, Sam Bonney, Sam Junior, Solomon Tetteh, and Henoc Dabo tallied one goal each.
“We changed our style of play – we played three back just to hold on first and see what we can do. We tried to rotate the ball around for them to get tired and then we started pushing forward. We always listen to our coach. We stick to our gameplan and it perfectly went well for us. We wanted to win this game at all cost,” shared Ghana FC center back James Ankrah.
Rounding out Match Day 4 was Futbol Funatics posting their first win against the struggling Superbad FC, whose record plummeted to 0-4.
From the get-go, the Futbol Funatics kept on pushing the pace as they ended up with a final score of 6-1.
It was a celebration of sorts for Futbol Funatics as right-wing player Abel Gboko enjoyed his 22nd birthday and the team looks to try and carry the momentum off of this victory.
“We’re very happy and we really did plan to take our first win today. It’s a special day today since one of our teammates is having his 22nd birthday. These past three weeks, we’ve been trying to figure out what really works within the team, and a lot of players were just game on today,” said the Futbol Funatics head coach.
“We are like a family. [Yesterday was] my birthday and I really want to enjoy. I scored that’s why I was dancing. We will celebrate together with my team because like I said, we are family here,” gleamed Gboko.
In the Megaworld 7s Youth League, Bohemian Sporting Club, and Kaya made strong impressions in their respective age brackets.
In the U9 division, Bohemian Sporting Club waylaid Loyola (9-0) and Futbol Funatics (5-1). Kaya’s U11 and U15 clubs tallied clean sheets for two wins each.
Their U11 teams edged G8 and Socceroo, posted identical 2-nil scores.
Meanwhile, their U15 counterparts defeated Bohemian Sporting Club (B), 4-0 and Sugod Malaya, 2-0.
Follow the site on Twitter: @DugoutPH
.JPG)
.jpg)
