MP United forces rubber vs Tan Holdings

MP United Football Club and Tan Holdings FC will have to meet for the third time this season to decide the winner of the boys U18 championship in the 2015 NMIFA Youth Fall League.

MP United Football Club’s Jason Kim tries to keep the ball away from Tan Holdings FC’s Joel Fruit during the second half of their boys U18 division game in the NMIFA youth league last Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

MP United arranged a playoff match against Tan Holdings after earning a 1-0 win in the final regular season game in the division last Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.

Kennedy Izuka made the lone goal in the match, unleashing a lob from the left midfield in the 59th minute with Tan Holdings goalie Hobin Lee thinking the ball will go over the post so he did not jump high enough for the save. He had miscalculation, as the ball just dropped inside the right top corner of the post.

Izuka and company hung on to the shaky lead in the remaining minutes of the second half, as Tan Holdings had limited options on offense with its top scorer Sean Perez missing the match due to sickness.

With MP United pulling off the close win, it tied Tan Holdings’ record at 5-0-1 (win-draw-loss). The deadlock will be resolved via a playoff game, which will be rescheduled on a later date as NMIFA still has to complete its other matches (boys U15) for the shortened fall season this weekend.

Meanwhile, Matansa FC finished the season strong following an 8-0 demolition of Paire FC in the other boys U18 pairing.

Ryu Tanzawa led Matansa’s route of Paire, drilling four goals, while Chad Shankweiler contributed two. David Mafnas and Terrence Evan Belcher added one goal each.

Matansa wrapped up the season with a 2-0-4 record and scored 10 goals, while giving up only seven. Tan Holdings tallied the most goals in the double-round robin regular season with its 34, while MP had 10. Paire, which was winless in six games, recorded only one goal and gave up 42.

BOYS U15

MP United 8, Tan Holdings-2 0

In the first boys U15 match at the Oleai pitch, MP United is still undefeated in five games after blanking Tan Holdings 2.

Sunjoon Tenorio had a hat-trick in the easy win, while Alex Park chipped in two goals. Matthew Ong, Oliver Lee, James Kim were the other scorers for MP United, which boosted its bid for the division championship and could seal the title if it prevails against rival Tan Holdings-1 in their make-up game this Saturday at 10am.

Tan Holdings-1 6, Paire 0
Tan Holdings 1 matched MP United’s 5-0-0 win-draw-loss mark following a shutout victory against Paire in the second match at the Oleai pitch last weekend.

Six different players scored in Tan Holdings’ lopsided triumph. Albert Bergancia hit the board first for the winning squad, followed by John Michael Rojas, Mark Esalan, Alan Hinson, Jonah Pohl, and Thaiphi Austria.

Kanoa 2, Matansa 1
Over at the Hopwood Junior High School Field, Kanoa edged Matansa.

Ian Maniago delivered the winning goal in the 53rd minute, while Henry Ferrer nailed the other goal for Kanoa, which improved to a 3-0-3 record for fourth place in the team standings behind Paire (3-0-2).

Matansa, which got its lone goal in the match from Ray Lieto in the 10th minute, slid from fifth to sixth place with its 1-0-4 slate. Tan Holdings-2 (1-0-4) took the No. 5 spot with its more goals, 19-12, while Shirley’s FC (0-0-5) is at the bottom of the team standings.