Green Archers crush Dolphins in a goalfest

Green Archers crush Dolphins in a goalfest

by rick olivares

October 9, 2012

Rizal Memorial Football Stadium

If the first game of the Tuesday doubleheader was ho-hum affair (a 1-0 win by Kaya over an overmatched Diliman squad), the main match between Green Archers United and Dolphins United was a goal-fest.

The two clubs met in the cup competition of last year that ended in a 6-0 blowout by the lads in green and white. Bristling with new midfield wizardry and defensive cogs, Green Archers bucked early danger from Dolphins’ Paolo Salenga who oft found himself surrounded by one or two defenders and unable to get off a shot. On a counter in the 15^th minute, Tating Pasilan’s beauty of a lateral cross found longtime teammate Arnie Pasinabo Jr.

Pasinabo snared the ball, put on a burst of speed then fired a scorching shot that punched the back of the net just beyond the outstretched hands of keeper Bernard Lelis. One-nil to Green Archers.

The goal turned the tide as the triple threat of Pasilan, Pasinabo, and Gabe Oloweyeye whose runs inside the box forced Dolphins to pull back some of their midfielders to defend. Their inability to quickly switch on the attack and support Salenga or Raymond Picato up front hurt their offense as Green Archers midfielders and defenders picked apart the passes or runs with relative impunity.

The lack of a strong midfield defense allowed Green Archers mids Ayi Nii Aryee, Reynald Villareal and Sean Lee to move the ball up and down the pitch while their Dolphins counterparts struggled to mount any serious attack after the first 10 minutes.

The pressure was too much as Dolphins conceded another goal to Pasilan who struck from inside the box in the 24^th minute.

As the Archers ratcheted the scoring with a long range volley from defender Ronnie Aguisanda who also netted a similar goal last season against Global. His college teammate in FEU, Jon Melliza added the first of his two goals with a virtuoso score from the left flank where he dribbled around a couple of hapless defenders before his clinical finish.

Dolphins however refused to give up as Romnick Echin scored on a fabulous free kick just outside the box after Dominic Mensah tackled Salenga who beat the offside trap. Echin’s volley in the 73^rd minute from 20 yards out was a low heater that evaded the wall and keeper Patrick Deyto.

Barely a minute after the goal, late Green Archers substitute Gong Villa sprinted the left flank and like Melliza earlier, dribbled around two defenders that forced Lelis to go out. Villa ditched him then fired into the back of the net to make it 5-1.

Salenga scored on a counter where he broke free of a Mensah tackle to go one-on-one with Deyto. Salenga fired a rocket to the left that made it 5-2.

The lapses on defense fired up the Archers who closed out the scoring with a delicious long range volley from Ayi from some 30 yards out and Melliza’s second goal after making mincemeat out of the defense with his dribbling ability. That left the score in fulltime at 7-2 and Green Archers in second place of Group B with four points in two matches.

“The addition of the FEU boys (Ronnie Aguisanda, Jon Melliza, and Sean Lee) and Ayi (from Global) to the team adds something that we lacked last season,” said head coach Rodolfo Alicante who himself once coached FEU to a couple of collegiate championships in the UAAP. “We now have more players to help on defense and to find Tating on offense.”

“I apologize for the cheap goals we conceded,” added team manager Monchu Garcia. “We cannot afford lapses. I think we fell in love with our offense too much that many of our players got excited and began to play a little too high.”

Pasilan himself rued a missed opportunity when a header in the second half hit the crossbar. “Kailangan ko ayusin din yung finishing ko.”

Two goals in two matches and he’s (aside from the team) is hungry for more.