Two goals from Gerardo Valmayor, one in the first half and another in the second, made all the difference for the University of the Philippines Men’s football team, who finally have their first win in the Season 77 men’s football tournament after Valmayor’s goals pushed them to a 2-0 victory over the University of Santo Tomas, Saturday night at the Moro Lorenzo Football Field in Ateneo.
The boys in maroon entered the first half in aggressive fashion, controlling possession of the ball from the get go and getting a couple of good shots, but all went wide or were swatted away by UST keeper John Rey Catalino. Leading the charge for the UST offense was Jean Mari Clariño, who had a golden opportunity to nail one for UST at the 27th minute, but the ball ended up whizzing past the net.
The first of Valmayor’s two goals came at the 33rd minute, breaking past the UST back and getting in position to let out a kick that sent the ball whirring past the UST goalie and into the net. He got another good look at the net just two minutes later, rebounding a botched cross to go for a kick just in front of the UST keeper, but the ball ended up flying over the bar.
UST’s Clariño got into position for a couple of good shots early in the second half, breaking past the UP defense to get a good shot in front of the net, only for the ball to end up in the hands of UP goalie Ace Villanueva. He got into position for another good look at around the 52nd minute, after successfully luring the UP goalie out of position and tearing a hole in UP’s final line of defense, but the ball was swatted out of play by UP defender Lou Adrian Ferrer.
The remainder of the half saw UP shift back to the counterattack. The much awaited second goal came in the 81st minute, after Valmayor managed to fling the ball in front of the net after blasting through the UST defense.
The Tigers were unable to mount a successful attack in the remaining minutes, after finding themselves disrupted by the UP defenders. UP’s Valmayor got two more good shots on goal approaching injury time, but could not further pad his tally.
