Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Cebuanas start bid with win over Iloilo
By Mike T. Limpag
Sun.Star Correspondent
One down, two to go.
Cebu’s Queen City United got off to a roaring start as it defeated Iloilo, 2-1, in the opening match of the Philippine Football Federation National Women’s Open Championship at the Tiongko Field yesterday.
QCU will face Iligan City at 8 a.m. today and a win assures a spot in the semifinals of the eight-team contest.
“They played very well. I told them not to give Iloilo a chance to shoot and they were able to do that,” coach Richard Montayre said. “I think we controlled 70 percent of the game.”
Midway into the first half, Katherine Bejec one-timed a cross from left flank past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.
Ivy Jane Bongcasan doubled the lead early in the first half after getting a pass from Rhodora Toledo, who broke away from her defender.
Controversial goal
Still, Iloilo refused to give up and got one courtesy of an alleged miscall by the referee late in the second half.
“The player was clearly offside but the linesman didn’t see it so the ref called the goal,” team captain Jan Salac said.
Cebu previously defeated Iligan, 6-5, on shootout in the Cebu Invitational Football Cup final last summer.
Against Iligan, the team will aim for better finishing by its strikers, who bungled lots of shots in their win yesterday.
“We had lots of chances. If we had converted them, maybe we could have won by eight goals,” said Montayre.
If QCU wins against Iligan and Rizal, bannered mostly by high-school players, it will finish on top of its bracket and avoid a semifinal clash against defending champion Davao, which also expected to top its group.
(August 17, 2005 issue)
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