Kaya FC showed their might against the newly-promoted JP Voltes FC throughout the match and won, 8-0, to secure their place in the Final Four of the 2015 United Football League (UFL) Cup, early Friday evening at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Either team tried to score the breakthrough goal, but it was Kaya FC who had more enterprising runs towards their opposing defense. The first clear chance from the yellow-shirts happened at the fourth minute. OJ Porteria fired from long range, only for the goalkeeper Nelson Gasic to tap it away and let the defense clear it out of danger. On the other side of the pitch, JP Voltes captain Chihiro Noda missed a chance on a wayward ball off his opposite number, Aly Borromeo.
By the 15th minute, Kaya wrestled the momentum for good. Miguel Tanton and Chris Greatwich repeatedly tried to breach through the Voltes backline with several crosses into the penalty area. But as they were closing in on the net, Kaya’s forwards could not finish. After several chances, the home side was finally rewarded with a goal at the 30th minute.
Porteria blasted another long-range shot that went straight to Gasic; however, the custodian could not gather the ball and Tishan Hanley was there for the rebound and the go-ahead goal. The Kittian forward almost doubled his output mere seconds from the shot, but was denied by the crossbar. Fortunately for Kaya, Alfred Osei was there to tap the ball into the goal mouth for the second point.
The pressure remained strong on the home team front, which kept their aggression on offense and plucked another goal six minutes after. Hanley powered his way through the defense and converted from inside the box to pad the lead to 3-0. Kenshiro Daniels then connected to Hanley two minutes before the stroke of halftime, who fired another past Gasic to put their side comfortably ahead.
At the second half, Kaya continued their great passing game. Despite the deliberate approach, the yellow-shirts had chances from Daniels’ deliveries at the 58th and 61st minutes. However, they did not follow through as Greatwich’s attempts were too strong. At the vicinity of 64th minute, JP Voltes was whistled for a foul, conceding a free kick to Kaya. Daniels wasted no time to score the fifth goal for his squad. Greatwich sent the ball to Porteria from the free kick, after the latter extricated himself from the wall. Porteria then tapped the ball to Daniels, who blasted it past Gasic for the point.
Janrick Soriano came up big in the following minutes after coming in as a substitute at halftime. After working on the right flank, the forward punished Gasic from committing to him at the 69th minute with a looping shot that grazed the goal line. Soriano then doubled his output at the 72nd minute. Porteria received a cross inside the box and the former U23 standout rescued the ball from going out and accurately sent it into the penalty spot, where Soriano was there for the goal. JP Voltes tried to get one back in the next few minutes. Despite their efforts, Kaya’s defense would not be bothered by the deliveries from Mikko Mabanag and Noda.
Greatwich then sealed the deal for his team in stoppage time. The veteran midfielder took matters into his own hands at the second minute of added time, after collecting a pass from Christian Ayew. The match ended with an 8-0 scoreline in favor of Kaya FC, and the former Cup champions booked their place in the semifinals against the winner of the quarterfinals match between Stallion FC and Pachanga-Diliman FC tomorrow. The said face-off will be held on Tuesday, August 25.
Kaya FC’s Team Manager Paul Tolentino was happy that his team has settled down and secured the win after surviving the resistance from JP Voltes at the start of the match. When asked on the departure of interim mentor Fabien Lewis, Tolentino shared that, “We always knew Fabien was going to leave. He could have been here for this game; but then we figured, if we win this game and he’s not there the next game, we might as well get into the routine as soon as possible.” The manager ended that his squad is motivated to win their next matches and to get that playoff spot to the 2016 AFC Cup.
