By Aine Peralta
Mirroring their first-round encounter against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Booters once again settled for a stalemate after conceding an 89th-minute equalizer, 1-1, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 89 men’s football tournament earlier today, November 15, at the UP Diliman Football Pitch in Quezon City.
Early into the match, both squads traded physical blows and defensive lapses through a frantic opening 19 minutes before FEU mounted the first real threat.
Green-and-gold midfielder Jerby Anito sparked the offense with an opening shot in the 20th minute, before Kian Niu threaded a pass to team captain Selwyn Mamon moments later that was whistled offside.
Faced with a barrage of set pieces from the Katipunan-based squad’s counters, the Tamaraw Booters quickly found themselves weathering under pressure.
However, right winger Stephen Soria stepped in to block a UP set piece in the 22nd minute, while goalkeeper Quintin Sanchez stood tall right alongside him to deny a Ramil Bation III header from a dangerous Jian Caraig pass.
Moments later, Season 88 Juniors Most Valuable Player Maxdel Torres mounted to clear another corner aimed at teammate-turned-rival Jumong Amita to keep the clean sheet intact.
Tempos flared in the 25th minute when a brief commotion broke out between both sides.
Once play settled, Sanchez continued to frustrate the Diliman-based booters, punching away a curling Bation corner in the 35th minute and cleanly collecting a hard-hit shot from Amita in the 38th.
Caught between UP’s chances, FEU nearly capitalized on a 36th-minute counterattack, only for Andre Yu to send his shot over the crossbar off a feed from Anito.
Mamon broke the deadlock right before halftime after converting a 45+2'-minute penalty — awarded following a collision between Jomari Masangkay and Fighting Maroon Charles Lobitaña — to hand FEU a 1-0 advantage.
Their archrivals pressed relentlessly for an equalizer after the break, but Sanchez anchored the defense through the attacks.
At the hour mark, the Tamaraw keeper pulled off a crucial save off a Bation corner from the left flank and immediately turned away a follow-up corner delivery moments later.
With UP committing numbers forward, FEU squandered chances to seal the win on the counter as second-half substitute Theo Libarnes missed high from a tight angle in the 63rd minute.
Mamon then looked to double the lead nine minutes later, only to have his breakaway denied by Fighting Maroon keeper John Oberes.
These missed chances proved costly in the 89th minute when a Bation corner ricocheted off Sanchez’s hands for an Arthur Kauffman's equalizer, sealing the 1-1 draw after FEU survived one final scare from Garces in stoppage time.
In a post-game interview, team captain Mamon admitted that dropping points from a winning position was a bitter pill to swallow.
“So far, ilang games na kami [na] parang bad games, kailangan pa talaga sana naming makakuha ng panalo, [pero] ‘yung result pa ng game is draw, nag-collapse pa kami sa last minute (So far, we’ve had a number of games that felt like bad games, and we really needed to get the win, but the result ended up as a draw, and we even collapsed in the last minute),” he shared.
The Season 88 Golden Boot and Best Striker awardee also pointed to a recurring defensive vulnerability in dead-ball situations, noting that opponents have managed to capitalize on easy set pieces throughout their campaign.
“Siguro ‘yung ano, the way we handle the set pieces ng kalaban, so almost sa lahat ng games namin nakaka-convert ang opponents namin ng easy set pieces against us,” Mamon added.
Despite the late heartbreak, he emphasized that the team continues to find valuable perspective amid an uncharacteristic season.
“Ngayong season lang talaga namin na-experience ‘yung ganitong rough season, which is meron naman siyang positive and negative influence sa team. Sa positive, mas matututunan pa namin ano pa mga kakulangan namin as a player and as a team. Sa negative naman, hindi naman ganitong team ang FEU (This is really the only season we’ve experienced this kind of rough season, which has both positive and negative effects on the team. On the positive side, we get to learn more about our shortcomings — both as individual players and as a team. On the negative side, this simply isn’t the kind of team FEU is),” Mamon said.
With two more games left before the elimination round ends, FEU remains in pursuit of a Final Four berth, with their next fixture slated against University of the East on Sunday, November 22, at the same venue.
(Photo by James Neil Tamayo/FEU Advocate)