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Air Force draws Loyola Meralco in wild finish

Last Friday night, while guesting on the AKTV Center during the PBA double-header, Chieffy Caligdong confessed to being a diehard Barangay Ginebra fan, and went so far as saying that his Philippine Air Force Phoenix FC is the Ginebra of the United Football League.

"Never-say-die kami at crowd favorite dahil puro homegrown kami at walang import," Chieffy declared. He made this comment at halftime of the Ginebra-B-Meg playoff game, where the Kings overhauled an 11-point deficit in the second period to win 93-84 in another fine display of the legendary Ginebra never-say-die spirit.

Just a day after his favorite basketball team pulled of that big win, Caligdong's PAF Phoenix team pulled off a come-from-behind, no-quit feat of their own that would have made Sonny Jaworski proud. Down 1-3 with the game already in injury time, the defending champions scored two very late goals to salvage a 3-3 draw against the powerhouse Loyola Meralco Sparks at the University of Makati pitch.

The Sparks appeared well on their way to victory and the top of the leaderboard after Phil Younghusband scored on a header from a free kick by Mark Hartmann in the 82nd minute to give Loyola Meralco a commanding two-goal lead.

But things started to unravel for the Sparks after James Younghusband was sent off in the 93rd minute for a hard push on Herbert Bayona. Air Force quickly took advantage, with Caligdong's cross setting up ex-Azkal Joebel Bermejo for a score that cut the lead to 3-2. Just a minute later, Ian Araneta came up with the equalizer that turned certain defeat for Air Force into an improbable draw.

If Ginebra and B-Meg have a storied rivalry in the PBA, then Air Force and Loyola Meralco are on track to establishing their own. The two sides faced each other in the UFL Cup championship last December, with Air Force winning 2-0 in a hotly-contested and rough match.

Yesterday's encounter had more of the same, with a total of 26 fouls called and eight yellow cards and one red card issued. Air Force may not be among the league leaders at the moment, their title-retention campaign getting off to a rocky start, but they treated this one like it was a title match. Even without their history with PAF, Loyola Meralco had a lot riding on this match after Global FC's 5-1 demolition of Kaya FC, so the Sparks needed a win to keep in step with Global.

Phil Younghusband opened up scoring in the 13th minute with a well-placed strike, but Araneta evened things up 10 minutes later with a beauty of a free kick from the left flank. The Sparks regained the upper hand in the 27th when Hartmann's free kick from the top of the penalty box curled around the Air Force wall and into right side of the net beyond the reach of keeper Tats Mercado.

The score remained 2-1 until Phil Younghusband's second goal in the 82nd minute, which under normal circumstances would have been more than enough of a cushion to secure a win. But James' altercation with Bayona changed the dynamic of the match. The referee decided to wait a little more before blowing the final whistle to make up for the time lost sorting out the tussle, and it was all the leeway Air Force needed to score the two late goals.

The draw cost Loyola the full three points, and the Sparks are now in second with 19 points, two behind the league-leading 21 of Global. Air Force is at 2-2-3 for only eight points, but last night's draw probably felt like a big win, especially for Araneta, who admitted he was motivated to prove he isn't over the hill yet.

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com. Twitter: @Sid_Ventura