Shirley’s vs Matansa in FA Cup finale

The 2015 FA Boys and Girls Challenge Cup finale will be an all-girls affair following the victory of Shirley’s and Matansa football club’s U15 squads yesterday in the semifinal round matches at the Hopwood Junior High School Field.

Matansa Football Club U15G’s Pinyarat Shankweiler steps in on defense to prevent a Kanoa FC U12 player from dribbling the ball during their semis game in the 2015 FA Boys and Girls Challenge Cup yesterday at the Hopwood Junior High School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Matansa FC U15G secured the first finals ticket in the annual competition after beating Kanoa FC U12 co-ed at Hopwood’s Pitch 2, 3-1. A few minutes later over at Pitch 1, Shirley’s U15G bagged a 4-1 victory over MP United U12 co-ed to complete the finals cast. Matansa and Shirley’s will battle for the championship this Saturday at 3pm at the Hopwood pitch after the consolation match between MP United and Kanoa U12 co-ed teams at 1:30pm.

Shirley’s and Matansa won yesterday’s pair of matches despite allowing their respective foes to score first.

In the Shirley’s-MP United tussle, the latter’s Rintaro Miyawaki drew first blood early, finding the back of the net in the 10th minute of the one-hour match.

However, MP United’s hold on the driver’s seat was short-lived as two minutes later a miscue from its female player Maaya Sato gave Shirley’s an own goal and tied the match. Shirley’s went on to grab the upper hand after the first half, thanks to Katrina Costales’ shot in the 18th minute.

It was all Shirley’s from thereon, as it dominated possession in the second half and added two more goals. Diana Maniacop handed Shirley’s its third goal in the 45th, while De Jana Muna scored the last five minutes later.

In the other semis pairing, Kanoa surprised its favored opponent by lighting up the board first off Ian Karl Maniago’s goal in the 11th minute. Kanoa kept the shaky lead at the end of the 30-minute first half, but failed to prepare against Matansa’s fightback in the second and last frame.

Bernadette Horey led Matansa’s second-half recovery, scoring back-to-back goals. She got her first in the 34th minute and the second seven minutes later. Angelica Sally closed out for Matansa in the 53rd.

Meanwhile, the Shirley’s-Matansa finals showdown this weekend will feature the Top 2 finishers in the girls division of the 2015 NMIFA Youth Spring League. Shirley’s ruled the double-round robin contest with its 8-2-0 win-draw-loss record and 26 points, while Matansa, which won last year’s spring season, ended up with a 7-3-0 mark and 24 points.

This year’s FA Cup finalists and MP United and Kanoa U12 co-ed teams were joined in the annual tournament by Paire, Tan Holdings, and Kanoa and MP United’s girls U15 squads.