By: Icko de Guzman
Rico Andes struck at the death to lift Dynamic Herb Cebu past Stallion Laguna, 1-0, in Saturday’s Philippines Football League triple-header at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.
The former FEU standout was left unmarked by Esrom Paulus and calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Jack Landreth, sealing Cebu’s first win of the season.
The victory provided a timely response to last week’s shock defeat to One Taguig, as Cebu now shifts focus to a tough Shopee Cup clash against Vietnamese side Cong An Ha Noi on September 24.
“We needed to bounce back after last week, and today we did it,” Andes said. “This was a morale-boosting win for the team heading into our Shopee Cup game.”
With the result, Cebu finally entered the standings with three points, enough to climb to sixth place. Stallion, meanwhile, remains in eighth with just one point after two matchdays.
Earlier, Tuloy also picked up their first victory of the campaign, blanking returning side DB Garelli United, 3-0.
John Loyd Jalique scored a brace in the 11th and 41st minutes before Jasten Lupangco sealed the result with an 85th-minute strike. The win lifted Tuloy to third place with three points.
In the nightcap, Manila Digger edged Maharlika, 3-2, to secure their second win of the season.
Chima Uzoka opened the scoring for Maharlika in the 12th minute, but Baboucar Touray equalized in the 37th before Modou Joof handed Digger the lead just before halftime.
Pa Ousman Gai added what proved to be the winner in the 90th minute, as Uzoka’s second goal came too late to prevent Digger from taking all three points and moving to the top of the table with seven.
Sunday’s double-header at Rizal Memorial features Kaya-Iloilo against Valenzuela PB-Mendiola at 4:00 PM, followed by One Taguig versus Aguilas-UMak at 7:00 PM.
