What a difference a break makes for a side seemingly on the edge. Coach Lerche Njang must certainly be thinking that as his charges opened the Saturday PFL triple-header with a clinical 3-1 win against Garelli United.
With both sides firmly planted in the lower half of the table, they would be striving to right their ships. Pride was definitely on the top of their bulletin boards. Garelli were actually on the ascendancy early on, with Bode Oladipo having the first major offensive opportunity as he skied the rebound in the 6th minute after a slick passing attack from the back. As the game settled down, however, it became a scrappy battle in midfield as both sides aimed to control the flow of the game going forward, until Maharlika broke it open in the 36th minute. MJ Libre caught Garelli slacking on the buildup near midfield and quickly switched the interception by Gael Basana, who found Junior Mailly running on his right. Mailly rewarded their trust with a low drive inside to put the Taguig boys ahead, hitting his 2nd of the campaign. The tempo picked up afterward, but both sides ended up not making any more headway into changing the scoresheet headed into the half.
The second half started off much the same as the last 10 minutes of the 1st – high-tempo and pushing, and Maharlika came up trumps in the exchanges. Junior Mailly netted a second after a good clearance from a Garelli counter-attack wound up in their own box from a slick pass by Maharlika’s Victor Nkoa, with MJ Libre teeing Mailly up with the final ball. Garelli would then chase a goal to press the game, to no avail. Maharlika missed several opportunities as well to put the game away. Garelli finally clawed one back, with a solid defensive shift creating the opportunity to put Jules Koumouin through. However, Mamadou Sene dilly-dallied on the ball and got absolutely mugged for it as Garelli’s main offensive threat came through again in the 76th minute to make it 2-1. Maharlika would answer right back, with Junior Mailly on the end of another slick passing move from an interception to seal his hat-trick. The San Francisco Glens alumnus quadrupled his goal tally for the season, making it 3-1 and sealing a 2nd straight win for Lerche Njang’s charges on either side of a bye week.
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
