Prior to handing a 2-1 defeat to Kaya FC, Stallion were in fifth place and three points behind fellow contenders for second place. The valuable victory acquired last weekend boosted the bid of Ernie Nierras’ Stallion for at least a top three finish. At the moment, his team is still placed fifth but will have the opportunity to climb the ladder if all results will go their way.
For Nierras, the result was very pleasing but what he liked more about it is the character his team showed in a tough contest against Kaya. “We played the way we trained. These guys, a lot of them had injuries, but they hanged in there,” the manager said. They forced their way back to the match after falling behind early in the second half courtesy of Kaya’s star man Louis Clark. Ruben Doctora cancelled Clark’s effort before Jordan Mintah picked up the winning goal 11 minutes before time.
“It’s a big deal. It builds up their confidence, it builds up their trust among all my players and they proved me wrong,” said Nierras who quickly referred to last week’s incident. “I challenged them. I told them they’re ‘losers’ and now they proved me they’re winners,” the Stallion boss found out.
Looking forward to the rest of the league, the Ilonggo club knows that winning all their remaining games will secure them a top four finish. Perhaps, Nierras only wants to finish strong before aiming to impose themselves in the UFL Cup. They have the honor of playing the newly-crowned champions, Ceres-La Salle, on Saturday. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do something. I hope they don’t have any more motivation to play,” Nierras joked. The game will be more serious than that though as the regional rivals are never willing to give an inch to the other.– LGT
