PLAYING without their ace striker, the UST Golden Booters relied on teamwork to trounce the University of the East (UE) Red Booters, 2-1, in the Ang Liga Football Cup last December 5 at the UST open field.
Louie Rodriguez picked up the slack for UST, which lost OJ Clariño to a partial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that will likely sideline him until the start of UAAP hostilities.
“We need two more practice games before the UAAP and hopefully Clariño would recover from his partial ACL injury,” coach Marjo Allado said.
Taking advantage of their home court, the Golden Booters broke the ice early when Rodriguez scored a dagger at the 10th minute of the game.
But after several failed attempts and crosses, UE’s Fitch Arboleda evened the match at one-apiece at the 44th minute via a penalty kick that penetrated UST goalkeeper Lee Johnson’s defense.
Veteran UST midfielder David Basa fired a long-range marginal goal to seal the victory at the 81st minute of the second half.
“Aside from Clariño who needs to undergo therapy, Joel Bones also has a sprained ankle, but it’s not very severe,” Allado said.
The game originally set last August 16 was postponed due to heavy rains. UE finished the first 45 minutes of that game at 1-0.
