MANILA – Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo kicked off its title defense in the 2023 Copa Paulino Alcantara with a 7-0 beating of Loyola Football Club on Saturday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Fitch Arboleda and Justin Baas scored two goals each, while newcomers Ricardo Sendra, Abou Sy and Mark Swainston added a conversion each to lead Kaya-Iloilo to a winning start.
“Good effort sa game and hard work ang ipinakita namin,” said Arboleda, who was named as the Man of the Match. “Sinasabi ni coach na dapat na lagi kaming to win convincingly against any opponent.”
Kaya-Iloilo went on the board as early as the 11th minute as Sendra converted a fantastic header from a corner pass by Daizo Horikoshi before the lead was doubled with a connection from Arboleda at the 30th minute.
Baas then made his presence felt for Kaya-Iloilo with a close range connection at the 34th minute before Arboleda completed his first half brace with a distant strike at the 43rd minute.
In the second half, Baas found a way to squeeze in his lefty strike for his second goal of the night at the 50th minute mark and increase the defending champion’s advantage to 5-0.
Kaya-Iloilo continued its onslaught as Senegalese Sy got himself on the scoresheet with a tidy finish in front of goal at the 57th minute before Swainston made his debut for the Ilonggos with an 89th minute goal.
“I am very very happy with the effort of the players,” said Kaya-Iloilo head coach Colum Curtis. “Practically there are a lot of new concepts introduced to the team but the players did fantastically (in our first game) and they play with desire.”
“The (Kaya-Iloilo management) told me that the last couple of games against Loyola are very close so we are glad that we have a convincing win against them,” he added. “We got a really good group of players and it’s my job to get the best out of them.”
The Iloilo City-based booters will have one week break before resuming action at four in the afternoon on Aug. 19, Saturday, against Don Bosco Garelli United at the same venue./PN
