Once again Philippine United took another scalp, by beating Potters End F.C. 6 - 0 at our home venue.
Straight from the off we got into our stride, cutting their defence open time after time, and we didn't have very long to wait before the first goal was scored by Michael Cepillo, who slotted home from close range to make it 1-0.
For the amount of pressure that we put on their defence, we only managed to score one more goal before half- time. Yes! Once again it was from that goal machine of ours, Aniello Mone, who provided a neat finish in the far corner.
We had a certain penalty disallowed, and also a good goal from Raymond Leigh, who has just come back from a bad injury. He did well for his first showing, for such a long lay-off.
The score stayed at 2-0 at the break and I must say that my half-time team-talk was probably the easiest I have had all this season.
I always tell my guys that "Another half is another game", and I never spoke a truer word. Potters End started the second half like they were a different team, and completely took us by surprise by knocking the ball about really well, but they did not have an end product.
This continued for about 15 minutes, then we scored again against the run of play, with an absolute crackerjack of a shot, coming from class-act Raymond Tordecilla. Their keeper got his hands to it, but the sheer power of the shot, took it to the back of the net, making it 3-0.
That was all we needed to get back into the swing of things, and another goal came shortly afterwards from A.J. Ross-Low, who scored with a great low shot after some good approach work, carved out by himself.
It was A.J.'s first goal for the team, and what a way to open his account. A.J. has been very patient, waiting to get his chance, and I must say, he has shown great potential in the last two games he has played. No-one was more pleased for A.J. than myself when he rounded the keeper and slotted the ball into their empty net, making the score 4-0.
The best was yet to come, and it came from Raymond Tordecilla again. Captain Renee Banao capped off a great run with a perfect cross, which found the scorer at the edge of the six yard line. With perfect technique, Tordecilla volleyed the ball home, again with such power, that it hit the back of the net the moment it left his boot, making it 5-0.
Shortly after the fifth goal, came the last of the day, from Michael Cepillo, who just tucked it under their keeper, rounding the final score 6-0.
Potters End tried hard, but in total honesty, we were just too good for them on the day.
After the game, the referee came over to me and said that we were the best footballing team he had seen this year. He was amazed at how we coped with the sheer size of the opposition, and I just told him it happens every week, that all the other teams are so much taller than we are.
The main thing I was pleased about this performance, was that so many players played so well, and for the first time this year, I could not pick the Man of the Match.
Good performances came from Engelbert Cepillo, Ryan Suyat, A.J.Ross-Low, Aniello Mone, but believe it or not, I didn't have two players to pick from for the best player, but six! Yes six players were really outstanding today.
Jason Arroyo's dribbling was a sight to see, Michael Cepillo could've had a hat-trick in the first half, Marco Ordona's tackling and strength was second to none (as he is every week), Raymond Tordecilla, for his two brilliant goals and three assists, Garey Reyes, who did not put a foot wrong all afternoon, and I'm glad to say that the last contender was Renee Banao. He was superb in defence, giving a very polished performance, orchestrating everything from the back line.
In all, it was a great victory and it should have been a lot more. Penalties were disallowed, along with two perfect goals also, but I'm quite happy with the outcome of today's game.
Till next week all you PUFC fans, and talking of fans, we had quite a few followers today, and they really got behind the team. Keep the faith, until next week.
Yours in Football,
NORM PARKIN
PUFC Head Coach/Team Manager
