ILOILO City – Dynamic Herb-Cebu Football Club bucked the boisterous Ilonggo crowd at the Iloilo Sports Complex to pull off a 3-2 victory over Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo on Sunday afternoon.
Daniel Gadia drew first blood for the Cebuanos with a 24th minute conversion from a corner by Mert Altinöz.
Kaya-Iloilo managed to tie the score 11 minutes later as Daizo Horikoshi sent a looping ball over the wall defense and into the bottom left corner.
The Cebuanos regained the lead just before the halftime break with a conversion from Leaford Allen before they widened it to 3-1 early in the second half as Elijah Liao slotted in the free kick of Jeremiah Borlogan.
Kaya-Iloilo managed to trim the deficit to 2-3 at the 60th minute on a close range conversion by Horikoshi. The Ilonggos had multiple opportunities to force a deadlock down the stretch but failed to have a decent connection.
The game dubbed as “Visayas Clasico” was also feisty as two Dynamic Herb players in Baris Tasci and Nicolas Ferrer Jr. and Kaya-Iloilo’s Fitch Arboleda were tagged with yellow card, while Kaya’s Simone Rota and Cebu’s Gadia were sent off with reds.
With the victory, Dynamic Herb-Cebu increased its points to 24 points, on seven wins, three draws and a loss, while Kaya-Iloilo remained on top with 30 points on 10 wins and three losses.
Meanwhile, defending champion United Clark Football Club opted not to push through with its participation in the second half of the season as the team is currently in a legal battle with a Singapore-based investment group Riau Capital Live.
“Since RCL failed to honor the agreed final settlement deadlines earlier this month, it has now forced UCFC to temporarily discontinue its professional football team operations and to withdraw its team from the remainder of the 2022-23 PFL season,” the team said.
Amid rumors that the football club might fold for good after releasing almost all its players, the Capas-based squad clarified it still intends to return next season once it finally settles the score with its former investment partner.
PFL commissioner Coco Torre, in a statement, said the PFL understands that the club intends to return next season but they must “sort out its situation” before thinking about rejoining.
“The case of UCFC is part of the realities on the ground, which must be addressed. We commend UCFC for the high standards they have set earlier on, but we must also consider the economics surrounding football as a business,” Torre said./PN
