Shirley’s 1 unbeaten, gets title

A Shirley’s Football Club 1 player, third left, loses his footing after colliding with Shirley’s 2’s Ariel Jinang, while Jerry Tan, right, and Dhiraj Chhetri, left, stay close in the play during the first half of their Division B game in the M-League last Sunday at the Hopwood Middle School Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Shirley’s Football Club 1 finished the spring season of the M-League undefeated en route to winning the Division B championship in the eight-team competition.

Shirley’s 1 prevailed in its penultimate game against the CNMI Women’s National Team, 3-0, and drew Shirley’s 2 in its final match, 3-3, last Sunday at the Hopwood Middle School Field to wrap up the contest with a 9-2-0 win-draw-loss record. The newly crowned division champion is ahead by three wins against Kanoa FC, who has one game left this season (against Matansa) and holds a 6-2-2 card.

Besides topping the team standings, Shirley’s 1 also has the most goals so far, making 30 in 11 games and yielding only 7—the least allowed by any squad in the entire league (including Division A) this season. Jerry Tan and Panapa Peteru added one goal apiece in Shirley’s 1’s total as they scored in the 25th and 55th minute of their game against No. 3 Shirley’s 2 (5-4-1) last weekend. Shirley’s 1 was awarded an own goal in the fifth minute of last Sunday’s tiff, while Dhiraj Chhetri registered all three goals for Shirley’s 2.

Versus the CNMI Women’s National Team last Thursday, three different players hit the board for Shirley’s 1. Fradel Sedillo drew first blood with his shot in the 12th minute, while Tan gave the team its second goal in the 45th. Joseph Ichihara closed out for Shirley’s 1 with his conversion in the 56th minute.

In other results, Sun Palace and Matansa downed their respective opponents.

Sun Palace faced the CNMI Women’s National Team last Saturday and earned a 3-1 victory. Qiwei Wang, Ivan Seo, and Feng Yu delivered the goods for Sun Palace, which moved up to third place in the team standings with its 5-1-4 record and will duel Korean Football Association on Saipan this Sunday for its final game. Wang made it to the board in the 11th minute, Seo in the 36th, and Yu in the 58th. The WNT, which finished the season at the bottom of the team standings with its 1-0-10 slate, got its lone goal from Britanny Wally, who ended the squad’s silence in the 47th minute.

Behind Sun Palace at fifth place is Matansa, which eased past the Thundercats, 6-0, to gain a 3-3-4 mark. The Thundercats are second to the last in the rankings with their 1-2-7 slate and will challenge Shirley’s 2 in their last game this weekend.

Young Ha Hwang Al-Amin Fnu nailed two goals apiece for Matansa, which drew one each from Anamul Haque and Amzad Khan. Hwang handed Matansa its first goal in the 12th minute, while he registered his second in the 55th. Fnu’s twin goals, on the other hand, were recorded in the 24th and 27th minute, while Haque and Khan scored in the 29th and 59th, respectively.

Meanwhile, in the Golden Boot race for Division B, KFAS’ Edwin Kim has collected eight so far and is hanging on to a one-goal lead.

Breathing down his neck are Kanoa’s Ian Maniago, Shirley’s 2’s Ryu Hoin and Chhetri, and Sun Palace’s Yu, who have seven apiece and could still surpass Kim as each player has one game left this season. Also still in contention is Wang, who has six, while Shirley’s 1’s Jun Liu, Kosuke Sato, and Sedillo, the Thundercats’ Don Cabrera, and Shirley’s 2’s Jack Phan have five apiece.