Facing a struggling opponent, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws still managed to ward off a determined National University Bulldogs to prevail 2-1, Thursday afternoon at its Diliman campus to return to winning ways in the UAAP Season 81 Men’s Football Tournament.
The result was the Tamaraws’ second win this year and it is a welcome outcome after two frustrating draws against the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers and Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles.
In contrast, NU suffered its third consecutive defeat of the season and Bulldogs are yet to taste victory in Season 81 as they started their campaign with two draws.
Gilbert Mendoza Jr opened the scoring at the 20th minute when Poi Saldivar’s initial attempt was deflected away, which gave him the chance to rebound the ball past NU goalie Christian Betanio and draw first blood for the home side.
Similar to the first goal, Saldivar was once involved as he capitalized on Betanio’s miscue to tap the ball into the net to hand the Tamaraws a two-goal cushion before the break.
Upon the game’s resumption, the Bulldogs tried to claw their way back into the contest and but their lack of composure in front of goal proved to be their undoing. Ivan Ouano shot past Tamaraws goalie Dave Parac at the 88th minute but it was a case of too little, too late.
Nevertheless, FEU clinched a well-deserved victory and continued its fine start to the season unlike NU, which now has to make up on lost ground.
Up next for the Tamaraws (8 points) is a date against the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons on March 10, 2019, 1:00 PM. On the other hand, NU (2 points) resumes its campaign against University of the East on March 14, 2019, 9:00 AM. FEU-Diliman will host both games.
