For all the lack of action the Sunday opener had, the main event made up for it in spades, as Davao Aguilas escaped with a 1-0 win against Stallion Laguna.
The first half was a cagey affair, as the Steeds could not break down Davao’s quality defensive block despite multiple attempts. Davao actually had a couple of shots within the first 10 minutes and despite skying one and the other being saved by Freddy Cortez, they had trouble running the channels for a bit afterwards. Meanwhile Stallion could not get the critical final ball through as Davao marked Jose Dourado out of the game, recognizing his effective play so far this season.
The second half started just as much as the first was, with Stallion poking and prodding at the seams and looking for an angle to attack Davao, but things heated up – quite literally – at the hour mark. Juan Trujillo and Omae So had a chippy battle for the ball down the left channel and after some shirt-pulling and a sneaky elbow from the Japanese man a fight almost broke out, with Daisuke Sato arguing his teammate’s case and copping a yellow, along with Stallion’s Gabriel Silva.
After all the chippiness, a missed Stallion free kick was made to pay dearly; late Davao substitute Uriel Dalapo netting the decider in the 88th minute after a quick clearance from a possession switch landed at his feet and he drove past his man to score. Stallion tried chasing the point afterwards but the wily Aguilas ran out the clock on them to come away with the win.
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
