Army blanks Socceroo, shares Division 1 lead

MANILA, Philippines - Army-General Trias International waylaid Team Socceroo, 4-0, to seize a share of the lead with powerhouse Loyola Meralco Sparks in the First Division of the United Football League 2014 at the Emperador Stadium.

Korean Song Woo tapped in a goal 14 minutes into the duel while Seok Jeon Shin scored with a rocket of his own 10 minutes later from an impressive free kick as Army-Gen. Trias Int’l., which joined forces this year, took a 2-0 lead at the half.

Lauren Bedua then unloaded a smashing counter-attack and Nam Gi Won blasted home the fourth goal for Army-GTI which joined Sparks, who posted an identical 4-0 win against Global FC last Tuesday, and Pachanga Diliman in the lead.

“Everything clicked and we hope to keep looking for the win in our next matches,” said Army assistant coach Ricky Cain.

Team Socceroo fell to its second straight defeat after opening the season with a 0-2 loss to former second division foe Pachanga Diliman last week.

In the other match, Green Archers United Globe leaned on Reynald Villareal’s 70th minute goal to escape with a 1-1 draw against PSG.

It was the Globe-backed side’s second straight deadlock after holding defending League champion Stallion FC to a 2-2 standoff in the inaugurals to move to fourth spot with two points, behind Loyola, Army-GTI and Pachanga Diliman.

Simon Bayemeg delivered the first goal of the match on a brilliant volley from way behind the box as PSG seized a 1-0 edge after the first half.

The Archers, however, equalized as Villareal stepped up late in the match.

“That was our worst start to a game,” said GAU-Globe coach Rodolfo Alicante. “We had four or five players who were off today. In the second half we changed a lot of things and we played better.” 

Ill-timed second half substitutions proved disastrous for PSG.

“The manager (Essie Sedigh) made his substitutions, which jumbled our line-up and confused some of the players,” said PSG coach Ayi Nii Aryee.