The first 10 minutes were effectively a warm-up for the black-shirted Citizens as they passed the ball between themselves with the kind of impunity you’d see in a cooldown session after a pickup game, such was the lack of pressure from the white shirts of Montet. They were made to pay a minute later when Paolo Bugas notched the first of his 3 assists from a low cross across the front of the box nodded in by captain Ricky Sendra.
.Ariel Nguekam doubled their lead 5 minutes later after another peach of a pass by Paolo Bugas gave him a run at nutmegging Montet goalie MJ Jones to net his first of the day. While Montet attempted in vain to generate some momentum of their own, UCFC were able to sit with the ball within the attacking third, and the constant pressure made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute as a Mark Hartmann free kick was whipped into the box and right into the path of the gigantic Koffi Bini for him to nod home. It would stand so into the halftime interval as UCFC could not cash in despite repeated opportunities.
The second half would prove to be an entirely different affair though, as the blitz would finally roll in for UCFC. Darlton Digha made it 4-0 in the 53rd minute after a low cross from Paolo Bugas was all his to tap in, while Ricky Sendra’s 2nd header of the day made it 5-0 just 4 minutes later; this one coming from a looping Mark Hartmann cross deep in the middle of the park. Ariel Nguekam got a 2nd of his own another 2 minutes later, Hartmann driving into the box and drawing out Jones, allowing Chester Pabualan to tee up Nguekam from the far right side of the box.
Hartmann himself nodded in the 7th goal in the 62nd minute off a rebound from a Troy Limbo header that bounced off the crossbar, and he hit a brace of his own 5 minutes later after going top bins on a free kick at the top of the box. There was a brief respite for Montet, whose dejected forms could not apply any more pressure on the ball even if they injected their legs with shaken sodas, and they would be made to pay in the 74th minute; Paolo Bugas got on the scoresheet himself with a bottle-rocket shot from outside the box to make it 9-0 to the Citizens.
The final goal of the game came in the 81st minute – Indonesian international Haji Nurhidayat tapped in a well-placed corner by Gio Pabualan to make it 10-0. UCFC made a couple of attempts to add another goal past the hopelessly overwhelmed Montet squad but were unable to, as the mood of the white shirts matched the skies above them at full time – dark and stormy.
Psychology graduate that’s been down the football rabbit hole since a kiddie camp in 1996. Once made a tryout for Manila Jeepney and a weekend consists of hand-wringing about Manchester United and Stallion Laguna. Can be found spouting opinions on X @FullyVaxxedJ
