Airmen win 2nd straight sans Chieffy Caligdong

MANILA, Philippines—Air Force Phoenix, slowly but surely returning to top form, notched its second straight victory with a 3-0 blanking of Nomads Sunday night in the United Football League at the UMak field.

Two second half goals from Ian Araneta and a sublime strike from Randy Bela-ong sealed maximum points for the Airmen, who moved to the upper half of the table with seven points.

Air Force winger Chieffy Caligdong missed his second straight game because of a knee injury, but it hardly mattered as the Airmen flashed fluidity in their play.

Araneta headed home Peter Jaugan’s corner in the 55th minute, before beating Jeff Blake with a 20-yard free kick five minutes later.

Coming on for Surgeant Montillano midway through the second half, Bela-ong completed the rout with a dipping shot that caught Blake flat-footed eight minutes from time.

“Its good for our confidence,” said Air Force coach Edzel Bracamonte. “We’re playing better, but still not at the level where we should be playing to win the league.”

The win allowed Air Force to move ahead of idle Army and Nomads in fifth spot, while Nomads fell to seventh with just four points to show from five matches.

Air Force dominated the early exchanges, but went into the halftime break frustrated after wasting clear-cut chances.