By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
KAYA FC-Iloilo succumbed to Ceres-Negros once again in their highly anticipated rivalry in the 2019 Philippines Football League.
OJ Porteria broke Kaya’s heart early in the first half, converting the only goal of the game.
Despite the heavy rains, Iloilo went off blitzing their offense as they got a couple of attempts from captain Jovin Bedic and Shirmar Felongco, only to be deflected by the goal frame.
Just as Bedic and Felongco sliced through Negros’ defense, Stephan Shrock again found Porteria and delivered a nifty assist from the left side of the field which led to the goal.
Before the break, Ceres midfielder Sean Kane was thrown out of the game after a verbal altercation with the officials together with Negros head coach Risto Vidakovic who joined Kane in the incident.
Despite facing a banged-up Ceres team, Kaya was not able to capitalize.
Kaya enjoyed their strength in numbers, but their inability to convert late game opportunities cost them the match.
Eric Giganto, Yannick Tuason, and Darryl Roberts got attempts to convert a goal, but all were not able to kiss through the net.
With frustrations and emotions running high, Bedic was issued his second yellow card of the game and was sent off the pitch.
Kaya head coach Noel Marcaida could not hide his disappointment.
“Every time we play against Ceres it’s always a tough game. I thought we started really well. I think we created chances throughout the game and we had more possessions,” Marcaida said.
“We could have evened the game in the early minutes of the second half. If we score that penalty it could’ve been a different story. I think we would’ve pushed on and gotten the three points.”
Marcaida vowed to get back in future matches with Ceres-Negros.
“The way we played, we deserved at least a point from this game. We were very unlucky not to get anything,” said Marcaida. “We still have two more games against Ceres. Those games are crucial. There’s no other option but to get a maximum six points in those games. Hopefully we can play those matches in Iloilo where we can rely on the boost from our 12th man.”
