Global Cebu, Kaya FC fight to a draw at Copa Paulino Alcantara
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
GLOBAL Cebu FC and Kaya FC-Iloilo fought to a 3-3 tie in their Group B encounter at the Copa Paulino Alcantara at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on Sunday.
Occupying diverging poles in their grouping, the two teams had it back-and-forth in said contest to finish knotted and share the spoils.
Joshua Beloya got Global to the scoreboard first as he found the bottom of the net five minutes into the match.
Kaya tried to regroup after but absorbed a hit instead as Eric Giganto was slapped with a straight red card for lashing out after being fouled hard by Jordan Jarvis, forcing Kaya to play with 10 men the rest of the way.
The Iloilo-based club eventually found the equalizer in the 24th minute care of Miguel Tanton’s free kick.
The two teams battled it out for the remainder of the opening half and fought to a level 1-1 count at the break.
In the second half, the nip-and-tuck nature of the contest continued before Charlie Beaton handed back the lead to Global in the 56th minute.
It did not take long, however, for Kaya to respond as two minutes later Robert Lopez Mendy produced the tying goal off a tip-in from a cross from Jovin Bedic.
Jordan Jarvis then made it 3-2 in favor of Global when he headed the ball in the 63rd minute.
Found itself down once again, Kaya scrambled to pull even, and was accordingly rewarded in the 73rd minute when Mr. Lopez Mendy scored his second goal and tie the knot anew.
With the outcome of the match open, the two teams tried hard to go for the clincher but none would come en route to the game finishing tied at full time.
With the draw, Global (0-1-2) notched its first point at the Copa Paulino Alcantara, good for third in Group B behind Kaya (2-1-0) with seven points and JPV Marikina FC (1-0-1) with three points.
In Group A, Davao Aguilas Bellmare FC (2-0-0) with six points continued to rule after its 2-1 victory over Ceres-Negros FC on Saturday.
The loss kept Philippines Football League champion Ceres at the bottom of the grouping with a 1-0-3 record and three points.
Stallion Laguna FC (1-0-1) is at second place in Group A with three points.
In the Copa Paulino Alcantara, the top two teams in the two groupings at the end of classification play advance to the crossover semifinals.
