One La Salle surprises BUFA in quarterfinals

SAN JOSE, Tarlac -- One La Salle FC stunned the highly touted Bukidnon Football Association (BUFA) in tghe quarterfinals round, 4-2, of the Luzon Cup Football Tournament held at the Jose V. Yap Sports and Recreational Park in San Jose, Tarlac, Central Luzon on Friday, November 22.

The victory sent the players from De La Salle Schools in Zobel, Greenhills and Canlubang Laguna to the semifinals, even as they still have to play one more game 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 ensure their second win in Group B after they whipped Pangasinan FC, 9-0, in the opener.

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 by scoring two more goals in the 30th and 40th minutes to complete a hattrick.

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 of 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 pass from Dairo.

Aseniero then scored Bukidnon’s second goal in the 60th to put Bukidnon in 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 Bukidnon Football Association (BUFA) coach added that the game's momentum could have turned on their side if the referee was clear on 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 the loss, coach Guillier Sumampong said that he is looking forward to meet One La Salle again in the finals.

“Then we can have our revenge," he added.

So far, BUFA scored the most goals in the tournament when it massacred Camarines Norte, 19-1 during the opening day action.

Dairo and Zac Verdeflor scored four goals each while defender Adriel Algodon accounted for 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 a total of eight goals. Tobias Paulino, Andre Bacolod, James Dinglasan and Fritz Chua also scored one goal each.

In 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, and Tarlac Province downed Cordillera Binandang 3-1.

(l.biantan@gmail.com)

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