MANILA – Stallion Laguna banked on Ilonggo Jan Jesus Melliza’s second half exploits to score a 3-0 upset over Davao Aguilas in the Philippines Football League at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna.
Melliza – a native of La Paz, Iloilo City – finished with two goals while Carlo Polli added another conversion for Stallion to improve to fourth place (6 points on three wins and three losses) on Sunday.
Both teams were held scoreless in the first half – and then Stallion’s Jason Cordova was given a straight red card early in the second half after a tackle on Aguilas’ James Younghusband.
Cordova’s ejection fueled Stallion. Polli opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a close-range strike on Aguilas’ Nicholas O’Donnell from a nice pass by Fitch Arboleda.
The lead was quickly doubled seven minutes later with Melliza blitzing past the defense of Aguilas. He later sealed the victory with another conversion in the second minute of added time.
“Well-played game even after being a man down,” said Stallion coach Ernest Nierras.
“The boys stayed true to our game plan from the start. We were able to use our counterattacking style and high press on defense. It’s a great game all around,” Nierras added.
It was the second straight defeat of Aguilas, which stayed put on second place with 11 points (three wins, two draws and two defeats)./PN
