CFC’s Jeremiah Borlongan after their match versus the Maharlika Manila FC in the PFL Copa Paulino Alcantara. | Photo from CFC Media Bureau
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Football Club (CFC) Gentle Giants tightened their grip on the second place of the team standings in the Philippines Football League (PFL) Copa Paulino Alcantara by trouncing the Maharlika Manila FC, 2-1, last Thursday evening at the PFF Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.
CFC, which now has its moniker – the Gentle Giants – which is derived from Cebu’s famous whale sharks or “Butanding,” snatched their fourth straight win in the ongoing competition by beating Maharlika.
The Gentle Giants won three straight matches, and earned another three points after the Azkals Development Team (ADT) defaulted from the tournament due to their preparations for the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Gentle Giants now have 12 points behind Kaya FC Iloilo with 13 points while United City FC is at third with eight points.
Turkish striker Arda Çinkir led CFC anew by scoring the team’s first goal in the 37th minute by picking up a timely pass from Lorenzo Giuseppe Genco.
The Gentle Giants scored their second goal in the second half courtesy of Jeremiah Borlongan at the 56th minute who came in from a substitution.
Borlongan was eventually named “Man of the Match,” for his stellar outing last Thursday evening.
Maharlika, which is the bottom-ranked team of the tournament, tried to retaliate by scoring a 69th minute goal from Sungmin Kim, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the odds against CFC.
CFC’s Turkish head coach Mehmet Khakil, said they were now setting their sights on Kaya and United FC which for him were the two toughest clubs in the tournament.
According to Khakil, he already watched the two clubs’ previous matches which made him conclude that these were the two teams they needed to beat to win the Copa Paulino Alcantara.
Incidentally, the Gentle Giants’ last two matches is against United City FC on Sunday, May 8, in the same venue, while their last elimination round match is against Kaya Iloilo on May 12.
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