Air Force Phoenix reigns in the UFL Cup

Veteran Yanti Barsales delivers final blow for champion Philippine Air Force.

MANILA, Philippines—Air Force Phoenix leaned on virtuoso performances from battle-scarred veterans Yanti Barsales and Edmundo Mercado to overcome Loyola Meralco, 2-0, Saturday night and seize the United Football League Cup before a tournament record crowd of 6,000 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Mercado, the 37-year-old goalkeeper from Bacolod, produced a string of important saves while the 38-year-old Barsales sealed the victory with a sublime strike in the 89th minute to snuff out the challenge posed by the Sparks, who couldn’t make the most out of their opportunities in an enthralling second half.

“This is a well-deserved win,” said Air Force coach Edzel Bracamonte. “We played hard, we played defensive. We played basic football. If we lost the ball, we recover on defense. We played as a team.”

Ian Araneta opened the scoring with a close-range strike in the 40th minute after a flowing move that also involved Chieffy Caligdong, Barsales and Randy Bela-ong, who produced the final pass for the national team striker to finish.

With a minute left in regulation, Barsales produced the sucker punch.

Barsales dispossessed substitute John Paul Merida and with Elizear Fabroada about to close him down, he came through with a perfectly placed strike to the top corner from 20 yards out beyond the reach of Ref Cuaresma.

Fireworks greeted both goals as Air Force asserted its dominance in a league which has become ultra-competitive following the acquisition of foreign-bred players.

The Airmen, back-to-back champions in the league, won their third trophy in two years in the fledgling league which saw attendance improve and enjoy live television coverage through AKTV on IBC 13.
The Sparks were denied of an equalizer seven minutes into the second half and substitutes Alex Elnar saw his two shots hit the crossbar.

James Younghusband looked to have headed the ball past Mercado off a corner from Mark Hartmann, but referee Giovanni Villagracia waived off the goal as Hartmann did not put the ball within the arc while taking the corner.

Egged on by their boisterous orange-clad fans, the Sparks sustained the pressure, but Mercado and the Air Force backline proved equal to the challenge.

Mercado came up with a reflex save on Hartmann from close range in the 60th minute despite a phalanx of defenders blocking his view, before saving another header from Phil Younghusband as Loyola laid siege inside the Air Force penalty box.

Global earlier copped third place at the expense of Kaya Cignal, 2-1, with Izo El-Habbib scoring the winning goal in the 75th minute.