Football
Stallion battles Archers, seeks top UFL spot
AKTV/Toto Gamboa
Stallion Giligan’s seeks to return on top against winless Green Archers United Saturday in the United Football League at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Kickoff is at 4 p.m. with Stallion looking for their fourth win that will allow them to vault past Loyola Meralco for the No. 1 spot.
Second division leader Pasargad and Cebu Queen City United meet in the 2 p.m. curtain-raiser that will also be aired live on AKTV on IBC13.
Some of the first division clubs are actually taking a break from the action this weekend. Most of its standouts are with the national team training in the Middle East for the AFC Challenge Cup.
Stallion is hoping that its forwards recover their scoring touch after they were held to a scoreless draw by a hard-fighting Pasargad side last Saturday.
That draw marked the first time that Stallion dropped points this season, after stirring wins against Loyola (4-1), Air Force (4-1) and Navy (6-0).
Lee Joo Young, the league’s top scorer with six goals, will again lead the attack line for Stallion.
Green Archers would have one less problem as Stallion will miss Reuben Doctora Jr., whose fine form with the club earned him a call-up to the national side.
Archers started the season with a string of heartbreaks, losing by just one goal in three of their first four matches. Last week, they yielded a late penalty to Global and ended up losing, 0-1.
Though they kept the ball for long periods, Archers have had trouble finding the back of the net, scoring only four goals so far.
Skipper Floriano Pasilan, last season’s leading scorer, has yet to get going this season and Archers has been leaning on Arnie Pasinabo, who scored in the 2-3 loss to Loyola.
Cebu Queen City will be looking to avenge its UFL Cup loss to Pachanga in the first televised Second Division game.
Pachanga, which reached the quarterfinals of the Cup, leads the second division with four victories.
But Norman Fegidero’s side nearly paid for its wastefulness, barely winning against Dolphins, 3-2, last week.
The Cebuanos, on the other hand, go into the game oozing with confidence after posting a 2-0 win over Laos – the first win of their UFL campaign.
