The cheers and yells of the Ilonggo fans were not enough to give Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo the coveted victory aft they were upset by Dynamic Herb-Cebu Football Club, 3-2 at the Iloilo Sports Complex.
Despite the gloomy weather, the Ilonggos gathered to witness and support the team. But the loud cheers stopped when Daniel Gadia drew first blood for the Cebuanos with a 24th minute conversion from a corner by Mert Altinöz.
With a sense of urgency, Kaya-Iloilo managed to equalize the scoreboard, 11 minutes later as Daizo Horikoshi sent a looping ball over the wall defense and into the bottom left corner.
Both teams got hyped with most of the players, rotating the ball for possible goal conversion. Unaffected by the Ilonggo crowd, the Cebuanos regained the lead just before the halftime break with a conversion from Leaford Allen before they widened it to 3-1 early in the second half, thanks to Elijah Liao.
Trailing by two points, Kaya tried series of goals but they only afford to score one point and failed to have a decent connection until the end of the whistle.
The game dubbed as “Visayas Clasico” was also feisty as two Dynamic Herb players in Baris Tasci and Nicolas Ferrer Jr. and Kaya-Iloilo’s Fitch Arboleda were tagged with yellow card, while Kaya’s Simone Rota and Cebu’s Gadia were sent off with reds.
With the victory, Dynamic Herb-Cebu increased its points to 24 points, on seven wins, three draws and a loss, while Kaya-Iloilo remained on top with 30 points on 10 wins and three losses.IMT Sports
