Late adjustment helps UC blank UV in Cesafi men’s football

The UC Webmasters prior to winning 3-0 over UV Green Booters in the College division of the 19th Cesafi Men’s Football Tournament. CDN Digital photo | Mars G. Alison

CEBU CITY, Philippines—An adjustment made in the last 20 minutes of the second half did wonders for the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters as they blanked last season’s runner-up, University of the Visayas (UV) Green Booters, 3-0, on Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at the Cebu City Sports Center.

It was a huge win for UC at the start of the second round of eliminations in the college division of the ongoing 19th Cesafi Men’s Football Tournament as they climbed from the fourth spot to the second spot.

It was also a huge improvement as last season, UC finished at the bottom.

UC head coach Gaudito “Jun” Taneo said that he decided to add one striker at the front to put pressure on UV’s defense.

“Last 20 mins nag adjust jud ko kay tanaw nako wala ni click ako first position nila, so mao to ni create mi ug two goals,” said Taneo.

(I made adjustments in the last 20 minutes because our first position didn’t work. And, that’s why we created two goals.)

Taneo had fielded just one striker at the front since the first round of eliminations.

Joseph Limana started the scoring spree for UC when he scored the first goal in the 66th minute.

After the adjusment made by Taneo, UC found the back of the net twice inside the last 10 minutes of the match. 

Eduardo Acabo chipped in his contribution at the 80th minute while Romulo David Valerio sealed UC’s victory at the 89th minute. 

According to Taneo, he is not sure if he would stick to having two strikers at the front as they’re still trying to find the perfect position for each player. UC, this season, is mostly manned by rookies. 

Despite that, Taneo said he is satisfied with the team’s performance as they did not finish at the bottom after the first round of elimination.

“Nakita nako nila nga they give their best man jud every time during sa game. Bisan pulos strong team amo kontra,” said Taneo.

(I can see that they give their best in every game even though all teams we go up against are strong.) 

The win allowed UC to replace UV at the second spot with seven points owing to a 2-2-1 win-loss-draw record while UV dropped to fourth with six points following its 2-3-0 card.

UV actually has the same number of points with the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Kicking Panthers, who ended their match against the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) Kicking Jaguars in a scoreless draw, also on Wednesday.

But USPF gets to remain at the third spot owing to its goal difference of two while UV has -2. The Kicking Panthers tote a 1-1-3 card equivalent to six points.

USJ-R remains winless but brings up its points to three owing to its 0-2-3 card. /bmjo