By Aine Peralta
In a rare turn of events, Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw Booters suffered their first head-to-head defeat against Adamson University (AdU), 0-2, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 89 men’s football tournament earlier today, October 15, at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman Football Pitch in Quezon City.
The setback sent the green-and-gold team to a second straight loss following a prior loss to De La Salle University last October 11.
Early in the match, the Tamaraw booters controlled set-piece opportunities, with forward Theo Libarnes testing the Falcons’ defensive wall with consecutive free-kick attempts in the 18th and 20th minutes.
The match grew more physical in the 25th minute when midfielder Karl Absalon was whistled for a foul in the defensive third.
Following the call, FEU’s Rustel Buenafe linked up with Season 87 Rookie of the Year Kian Niu off the resulting set piece, but the effort overshot the crossbar, keeping the match deadlocked at the break, 0-0.
In the 49th minute, the Morayta-based squad’s backline failed to contain the Falcons as Fritz Chua latched onto a long delivery into the box, connecting on a Mark Ricario header to put the Tamaraws behind, 0-1.
Hunting for an equalizer, FEU pushed high up the pitch as intensity boiled over on the pitch, highlighted by a 66th-minute stoppage following a collision between Absalon and Adamson goalkeeper Christian Lauron.
With the Tamaraws throwing numbers forward in stoppage time, the Vincent Santos-led team got caught on the counter as AdU’s Chua capitalized on the exposed backline in the 90+4th minute mark to seal the Morayta-based squad’s fate, 0-2.
In a post-game interview with FEU Advocate, Tamaraw head coach Santos highlighted the team’s slow start and conversion issues as major factors in the defeat.
“The team will have to deal with this. It took a while for us to wake up — I don’t know why we had to wait to be scored on. But after we were scored on, I said that we had played a lot better, and we created a lot of chances. The difference between creating chances and scoring goals is what we have to address,” he shared.
With standouts like Selwyn Mamon and Edgar Aban out of the bench, Santos noted the void their absence left on the pitch, urging the squad to regain their poise moving forward.
“[Selwyn] and Edgar are sorely missed. We were hoping for others to step up — some did, but not getting the results is obviously not enough. I hope there were lessons learned already. When the team plays with the confidence that they normally have, we can take on any UAAP team,” the head coach added.
Dropping to a 1-2 record, the Morayta-based booters look to regroup before clashing with rival UP Fighting Maroons on Sunday, October 18, at the same pitch.
(Photo by Ma. Louela Luna/FEU Advocate)