Global Cebu pulls off 1-0 victory over Ceres Negros

Paul Mulders (center) of Global Cebu FC battles for the ball against Stefan Shrock of Ceres Negros FC in a PFL game at the Cebu City Sports Center.
CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO

Global Cebu FC didn’t disappoint Cebuano fans in its first home game at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), chalking up a 1-0 victory over rival Ceres Negros FC in the Philippines Football League (PFL) last night.

Matthew James Hartmann scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute and Global Cebu held on to log its fifth victory in the ongoing tournament.

The team has two losses and two draws to remain at third place in the standing with 17 points, just one point behind second placer JPV Marikina (6W-2L-0D), which has 18 points. The Meralco Manila Sparks still lead the standings with a 6-0-2 record worth 20 points.

“It’s a very important match for us, we need these three points,” said Global Cebu head coach Marjo Allado. “It was a job well done for us. All the players did their best. They never let down the fans.”

The 5,350 Cebuano fans who watched the game live also didn’t let their team down.

“We thank the fans for coming out. This is the first game that we had a lot of fans. Maybe on the weekend we expect more fans to watch the game,” Allado said, referring to Global Cebu’s next home game at the CCSC against Laguna Stallions FC this Sunday.

While Global Cebu celebrated, Ceres Negros FC continued to blame the ‘very poor condition’ of the football field of the CCSC.

“If you let us play in a pitch like this, this is the best that we can do,” said Martin Steuble of Ceres Negros FC.

Coach Risto Vidakovic of Ceres Negros already complained about the condition of the field in a press conference a day before the game but the Cebu Football Association and the PFL said the pitch was safe for play.

Allado had an interesting point of view on this issue with the playing field.

“We focused on the game not on the field,” he said. “Both teams played on [the same] field. Our focus was to win the game not on the field. They had a lot of chances actually,” he added.