SCORINGLEADER DUKE PUNZALAN OF ONE LA SALLE TRIES TO STOP BUKIDNON’S MIDFIELDER PRINCE ASENIERO
SAN JOSE, Tarlac — One La Salle FC shook the Luzon Cup when the players from De La Salle Schools in Zobel, Greenhills and Canlubang Laguna, surprised the highly touted Mindanao Cup champion Bukidnon Football Association (BUFA) 4-2, Friday (Nov. 22) at the Jose V. Yap Sports and Recreational Park in San Jose, Tarlac in Central Luzon.
The victory sent One La Salle outright to the quarter finals despite of still having to play one more game Saturday against Camarines Norte United.
The La Salle kids of Cameroonian coach Eric Sardou, pushed hard in the first half and clamped on Bukidnon’s go-to guys Kurbe Dairo, and Prince Aseniero to insure their second win in Group B after they whipped Pangasinan FC, 9-0, in the their first match earlier.
Duke Punzalan opened the scoring in the 12th minute from the penalty spot after a handball foul inside the box. He then capped his fantastic performance when he scored two more goals in the 30th and 40th minutes to complete a hat trick.
Peter Joaquin Mirasol scored the second goal for One La Salle in the 15th minute.
Bukidnon had a disappointing first half as One La Salle put up a solid defence and handcuffed Bukidnon’s scoring duo Dairo and Aseniero.
But the Bukidnon boys woke up in the second half and pushed forward to score. Cade Sanchez managed to poke one goal in the 50th minute after receiving a decent through pass from Dairo.
Aseniero then scored Bukidnon’s second goal in the 60th to put Bukidnon on striking distance.
However, their efforts went down the drain as Dairo’s long distance shot that hit the cross bar and bounced back from inside the goal was cancelled out by the referee.
“The Bukidnon boys have very good individual players. But we outwitted them tactically. My boys were outstanding and played good football,’’ said One La Salle coach Eric Sardou after the match.
“One La Salle players have good technical skills and they played solid defence. They assigned three or two players to my best player so he could not really create any chance to score,” Bukidnon coach Guillier Sumampong said.
The BUFA coach added that the tide of the game could have turned to their side if the referee was also clear of his decisions.
“We had at least four chances of scoring goals but the referee did not award these to us. It was the worst officiating so far in the competition,’’ Sumampong said.
Despite of the loss, coach Guillier Sumampong said that he is looking forward to meet One La Salle again this time maybe in the final. “Then we can have our revenge,’’ he aded.
BUFA scored the most goal in the tournament so far when they massacred Camarines Norte, 19-1 in their first assignment.
Dairo and Zac Verdeflor scored four goals each while defender Adriel Algodon three goals. Loejay Jomamoy scored two goals while Jimm Fabela, Prince Aseniero and Sanchez scored one goal each to complete the rout.
Duke Punzalan also led One La Salle in their 9-0 smashing of Pangasinan United with five goals making him the leader of the Best Striker award with now a total of eight goals. Tobias Paulino, Andre Bacolod, James Dinglasan and Fritz Chua also scored one goal each.
The remaining elimination round matches are scheduled Saturday morning while the quarter finals are set in the afternoon. The semis and the finals are scheduled on Sunday.
In the other matches, Youth Football Academy Muntinlupa won over North Central Luzon FC, 4-1, Tuguegarao FC whipped Central Luzon FA-Tarlac 5-0, Gawad Kalinga drew with Masbate 1-1, Camarines Sur dumped Cordillera Binandang 11-0, Laguna FA beat Tarlac Province 6-0, Tarlac Province downed Cordillera Binandang 3-1 and RIFA Quezon City dumped CRFA-Baguio 13-3 . (l.biantan@gmail.com)
