14 up, 14 down, 14 unbeaten. That is how the history books will note the 2024 PFL season for Kaya-Iloilo FC, and they celebrated their second successive championship with a 3-0 derby day win against a battling Loyola FC.
The Wolves, who welcomed celebrated goalkeeper MJ Jones into the pack after winning his freedom from the clutches of Manila Monter, actually kept the Lions at bay early on, keeping in step defensively to repel the Yellow and Black attack and even trying their hand at a few potshots going forward. Championship class eventually won out though, especially with how stretched Loyola’s squad has been at points this year. Kaya eventually broke the deadlock in the 28th minute — Kaya were able to spin a corner into extended pressure and win another corner, which Mar Diano duly guided into the back of the net to open the scoring.
Kaya doubled their lead 2 minutes later, with Simone Rota heading in off another corner, and effectively killed the game off as a competitive contest in the 37th minute, as Jovin Bedic scored off a great pass from Janjan Melliza to make it 3-0. The Mighty still attempted to put goals on the board for the rest of the game, but Loyola rose to the challenge and repulsed them the rest of the way. James Hall urged his charges to play up to the occasion and made shrewd tactical adjustments after the halftime interval to limit the damage, which succeeded as Kaya were unable to score any more goals. This ensured the Wolves would stay 8th in the table, while Kaya can now look towards another continental adventure as double winners.
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
