MANILA, Philippines - Jeffrey Lobaton came to Army Fritz & Macziol FC’s rescue by scoring two clutch goals in the second half as it downed fierce rival Navy Red Juice in a gripping 3-2 victory to jump to solo fifth place in the First Division of the United Football League at the University of Makati field.
Down by a goal in the first 50 minutes, the Armymen didn’t lose hope and kept their composure as Lobaton came through with missile-like goals in a span of three minutes to turn the one-goal deficit to a 2-1 lead.
Jared Champ Baron then followed it up with a goal of his own on the 60th minute to give Army a 3-1 cushion going into the final stretch.
The Navymen didn’t go down without a fight though as Arnold Carino unloaded a spectacular goal four minutes later, his second since drawing first blood with a 35-minute goal that gave them an early 1-0 advantage, to cut their foes’ lead to just 2-3.
But Army tightened up its defense from there by practically parking the bus to prevent Navy from scoring the game-tying goal.
and perhaps another one that would have won it to preserve the triumph.
The win catapulted Army from a share of sixth place with Nomads Auction Manila FC to solo fifth spot with eight points on two victories and the same number of draws and defeats as it ovetook idle reigning League and Cup champion Air Force Phoenix, which fell from No. 5 to No. 6.
Navy, in contrast, remained winless, at 10th and dead last with a point on a draw against five defeats.
Loyola Meralco Sparks, headed by the massively popular and talented Younghusband siblings Phil and James, currently leads the way with 15 points capped by a 14-0 annihilation of a listless Navy Red Juice Sunday at UMak.
Stallion Giliigan’s FC is two points off the pace with 13 points while Kaya FC and Angel Guirado-led Global FC are not that far behind at joint third with 12 points apiece.
Army will cap its gruelling three-game schedule in six days with an interesting showdown with a heavily favored Juan Cutillas-coached Kaya side, backed by LBC Hari ng Padala, at 2 p.m. tomorrow also at the UMak.