We all expected this one, didn’t we? At this point, it’s hard not to feel bad for their players, whose only fault was signing to play for a mismanaged mess of a club.
The 2024 PFL season is coming to the homestretch, but some things remain the same. Manila Montet FC absorbed another humiliating beatdown at the hands of league leaders Kaya FC Iloilo in a 14-0 demolition, tying the record for this season’s most lopsided result.
The boys in sky blue have lost all 11 of their games so far, conceding 80 goals and scoring just once.
It was one-way traffic the whole match for the defending champions, where head coach Yu Hoshide gave starts to some of their bench players, including youngsters Nathan Bata as goalkeeper, Martini Rey, Sherwin Basindanan, and Konate Bandiougou.
Meanwhile, the hopeless Montet, marred by various off-pitch issues, missed out on Dave Deloso and, surprisingly, fan-favorite goalkeeper Mark James Jones, who begged off to watch from the grandstand while his team got cooked.
Montet head coach Kenneth Arnaldo, the club’s fourth coach this season, gave 21-year-old Rafael Mamonong his first start this year in goal, and they conceded nine goals in the first half. Somehow, the 200-peso per day allowance seems to be reflected on the pitch, and we really can’t blame them.
The former FEU stalwart Martini Rey scored the first hat trick of his pro football career, while Korean striker Lee Do-kyung added a quadruple of goals. With Mark Swainston and Sherwin Basindanan also scoring their first goals of the season, it was not surprising to see them lead 9-0 at halftime from 30 shot attempts.
With the game virtually over and the crucial title race still too close to call, Kaya continued to up their goal difference in the second half. Jovin Bedic added another goal from the penalty spot, defender Yi Young Park contributed to the tally, and Rey continued with his fourth goal of the match, making it a dozen goals before the 60th minute—an average of a goal every five minutes.
For some reason, the league leaders slightly lifted their foot off the gas pedal while the desperate and outgassed Montet flanked all their players near their own box to defend as if their lives depended on it, with zero intention to attack. For a solid 30 minutes of football action, Montet didn’t concede a goal—a monumental achievement for this awful club’s short history.
Despite their bus-parking heroics, Marvin Angeles and Jarvey Gayoso still found the back of the net deep into stoppage time to make it 14-0, tying the record for the biggest goal margin of the season along with Cebu FC’s 16-2 spanking of DB Garelli United just two weeks ago.
Speaking of Cebu, Montet will travel to the Queen City of the South (or will they?) next week to face the Gentle Giants, while Kaya FC will continue their league title defense against the Philippine Army FC.
