AS THEIR rebuilding stage progresses, the UST Golden Booters kicked off their pre-season tune ups with a morale-boosting 2-0 opener against De La Salle-Lipa in the Ang Liga Football Cup last July 26 at the San Beda College football field.
“We don’t have many problems in our offense and defense. The players just need more experience and exposure,” said Golden Booters’ head coach Marjo Allado. “Our ball movement is good but we still need to look into how we finish.”
The ball rolled inside UST’s bailiwick for most of the game, showing a more offensive-minded squad throughout the duel.
The defensive wit of De La Salle-Lipa goalkeeper Gregg Atijon was tested for the nth time, with UST firing a series of attempts to the goal. Finally, Golden Booter Mandy Lunag sidestepped countless La Salle defenders to unleash a fiery kick, giving UST a vital one-point advantage as the ball kissed the net at the 24th minute of the first half.
A few lapses in UST’s defense opened a rare chance for De La Salle’s Yazan Aburashideh to score an equalizer, nine minutes after Lunag’s goal, but his efforts were in vain as UST goalie Ramon Borigas hugged the ball.
The Golden Booters continued to assert the dominance, scoring another goal at the 61st minute, thanks to a rifle shot kick from Christian De Juan off David Basa’s sensational feed from the left side of the field at the 61st minute. Shaken by the turn of events, Aburashideh fired another dagger from the right field but instead of scoring a goal, the ball went to the UST goalie’s hands.
UST sustained its composure in both the offensive and defensive end up until the final whistle.
“Right now, we still have a lot of things to settle in the team, but we’ll be gaining support from our six rookies, two of which are part of the first eleven of Palarong Pambansa Under-14 National team. So even if they’re newbies, they are also well-experienced,” Allado said.
