Bleachers Brew: Kaya Dark wins Kaya Reunion Match 2

Kaya Dark wins Kaya Reunion Match 2

by rick olivares

Mikey Carrion pulled out the first ever Kaya jersey from his gym bag. Panky Abijay’s arrival drawing cheers from the some of the veterans. And Phil Hagedorn poked some fun at himself with his ‘Phil Oldhusband’ joke.

The second Kaya Reunion Match played last Saturday night at the Emperador Stadium, was another evening of fellowship and great football. And a good ole trash talking on the side.

When the Kaya Dark Team of founders Rudy Del Rosario, Mikey Carrion, and Chris Hagedorn took a 2-nil lead in the first game (both sides played three 30-minute games in a best-of series with only five current players on the field at all times) after two brilliant goals by OJ Porteria, defensive midfielder Alvin Ocampo called out the Kaya White Team on the PA system, “Give us a challenge, Kaya White!”

Kaya White, coached by current boss David Perkovic and team manager Justin Tolentino, responded, “Shut up, Alvin!” And guffaws floated around the Emperador Stadium that had a much bigger crowd than the inaugural match held last year at the BGC Turf.

Just as it was in the first reunion match, Phil Hagedorn turned in a superb job at the net stopping a pair of Porteria strikes. However, the defense couldn’t stop the marauding pair of the Del Rosarios – Anton and Rudy on the right side – who repeatedly fired crosses into the box.

Quipped Joel Dabao, “Same as last year, Phil was the best goalkeeper…. for the first 15 minutes.”

“Good job, Phil,” greeted his teammates on the bench as Melo Sabacan took over.

“I’m calling it a career. It’s time for Phil Oldhusband to retire,” he joked.

But Kaya White, featuring mostly the younger players, made a game of it. Former coach Kale Alvarez who is now with UFL hopeful Manila Jeepney FC had a magnificent opportunity to pull back one but his close range shot from the right side of the box hit the side of the net.

The Dark team won the first game by the same score but Kaya White, responded to the challenge in the second game with current goalkeeping coach Melo Sabacan at goal. The Whites finally got their offense going as they had several shots on goal.

The Whites looked to even up matters but a Chris Greatwich goal was disallowed when a teammate was called for offside.

The second match ended in a scoreless draw.

Needing a win to send the game into penalties (to decide who would win the Kaya Reunion Match 2 trophy), Kaya Elite forward mark Winhoffer made sure that the piece of silverware was headed the way of the Dark Team when his 30-yard strike beat the outstretched arms of keeper Joel Dabao for a 1-0 victory.

Winhoffer, who plays for International School Manila, was named MVP of the Reunion Match.

During the halftime penalty shootout between the team of the Kaya Youth parents (Miguel Celdran, Javi Hernandez with OJ Porteria at goal) and the Ultras Kaya (Anthon Santos and Tariel Boringot with Kaya vet Albert Besa at goal), the latter team won, 3-2, after David Perkovic handed Porteria a handicap by taking his spot kick left footed. Porteria sent the ball high over the crossbar sending the shootout into a sudden death shot. Ultras Kaya’s Boringot scored his second spot kick giving his side the win.

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Kaya Dark – Rudy Del Rosario, Mikee Carrion, Chris Hagedorn, Anton Del Rosario, Alvin Ocampo, Mark Winhoffer, OJ Porteria, Nico Bolzico, Arama Reagan, Eddie Mallari, Kross Ubiam, Josh Miller, Scott Baginski, Tonichi Severino, Christian Zubiri, Kenshiro Daniels, Francisco Plaza, Ames Legarda, Saba Garmaroudi, Dan O’Reilly, Mati Alvarez, Jay Torbela, Antonio Raffles, Toshi Hosoe, Albert Besa, Mikel Maniquis, Butch Mondoñedo, and Joseph Bachorik.

Kaya White – David Perkovic, Justin Tolentino, Paul Tolentino, Phil Hagedorn, Chris Greatwich, Marjo Allado, Masa Omura, Fabien Lewis, Kale Alvarez, Marco Casambre, Iñigo Herrera, Emmanuel Mbata, Rafael Plaza, Danilo De Jong, Gil Talavera, Johnny McArtor, Enzo Jalandoni, Anton Ugarte, Panky Abijay, Nicholas Cruz, Mari Javier, Joey Arenas, Janrick Soriano, Joel Dabao, Luis Sumere, Andrew Liauw, Enrique Posas, Mel Sabacan, and Paul Ferreira.

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Glad to be able to contribute to the legacy of this great football club. When I came up with the idea to organize a Kaya Reunion Match, it was with the intention of holding it on an annual basis. I broached the idea to club owner Santi Araneta at the Manila Polo Club over lunch two years ago and he immediately liked it. Next year, we hope to involve more veterans. See you all then.