Stallion vs. Army preview
by rick olivares pic by mark dimalanta
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Emperador Stadium
McKinley Hill
It probably goes without saying,
nevertheless, I will -- this match will be an intensely fought one. Is that an
understatement?
Stallion (10-0-1) would like to
continue racking up those wins and the three full points that come with them on
order to hold off Global and Loyola.
They’ll be up against Army that will
come out with an air of urgency and desperation magnified by the 1-nil loss to
Air Force last Saturday (with the goal courtesy of Antonio Albor in the 74th
minute). It was Army’s first loss in six matches to their military rival and as
a result, it dropped ignominiously to tenth spot that is the automatic
relegation zone.
A few weeks ago, Army was at ninth
place and no matter how bad it was it meant at least a playoff battle to avoid
dropping down to the second division. But an Air Force win over sliding Nomads
gave the Airmen some hope and now they booked their second win of the second
round.
A mere three days after that colossal
flop against Air Force, Army is back in action. Before, it was to keep their
heads above water. Now, it’s for survival. Do they have the mental fortitude to
get right back up? Can they pull off the biggest upset of the season by
defeating Stallion?
When both sides battled last February
21, Stallion won, 2-1, with the former looking vulnerable in the second half.
It was an ugly pattern for a while for the UFL Cup champions who after taking
an early lead, would relax and concede some second half goals. But they have
since corrected that flaw.
That February 21 encounter was Army’s
second game of the UFL season and their confidence, despite losing, 4-1, to
Loyola in the season opener, was pretty good. They’ve been shellacked
repeatedly since and they play with an edge, perhaps, of dead men walking,
nowadays.
It’s a sad fate for the proud and once
feared military teams. Navy is at eighth spot in the nine-team second division.
Army? They’re staring at being relegated.
Why Stallion will win this game? For one, they have a deeper team with
more lethal weapons. More than 10 different players have scored and that means
there is no dependency on Rufo Sanchez to score.
Second, their bench has become even
more confident as they have delivered. Plus they have the second best defense
in the league.
Army on the other hand has the worst
defense as they have allowed 37 goals. If they can make a game of it in the
first half, keep it tight and score a goal. The problem for Army is the second
half. If Boogie Margarse and Ric Becite are influential in this match, they
have a slim chance. But they’re also missing Rodrigo Betita who is still
serving out his six-month suspension and Relan Bretaña who is out on
accumulation of yellow cards.
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