Ceres Negros FC braved the rains over the weekend to defend its home at the Panaad Park and Stadium with a stunning 7-0 victory over visiting Ilocos United FC.
‘Man of the Match’ Stephan Schrock opened Ceres FC scoring spree in the early 12th minute of the game off a short pass from OJ Porteria beating Ilocos United keeper Baba Sampana.
It was almost a quick double for Ceres FC when Iain Ramsay got a back heel pass from Schrock but, his shot was tapped out by Sampana as Fernando Rodriguez attempt got a flag up for offside.
With Ceres FC having the control of the match, a napping Ilocos FC defence caught them with Jeffrey Christeaens scoring the host’s second goal in the 25th minute on a pass from Schrock.
It was Sampana’s busiest moment on the mouth of the goal as Ilocos FC backline unmarked Ceres FC striker Rodriguez who sent his team to a 3-goal lead in the first half.
Despite the advantage, the home team weren’t done yet as Porteria able to connect successive goals in the 69th and 72nd minutes to advance the team with a 5-nil lead as defender Manuel Herrera Lopez got his header off a corner in the 83rd minute.
But, one of the highlights of the game was the 90+2 minute header of Fil-German Patrick Reichelt on Arnie Pasinabo Jr.’s cross. It was a great night for Reichelt, who finally returned to a regular game after missing it for several months due to injury.
For Ceres FC Assistant Coach Pepe Losada, their team is very proud for the performance of the players in this match. “Overall for the whole time of the match it was raining, so it’s important to have high performance from the players and to score seven goals makes (the fans) noisy. So we are very proud for this,” added the Losada – who stood for the Coach Risto Vidakovic who was serving a suspension.
On his part, Schrock had nothing but praises for the club adding that despite those number of games in such a short time, everybody was still at the good level and good concentration. “We showed that were a team. OJ had had two goals and everyone scored. We have to mention Kiki (Reichelt). After a 10-month break, we are very very happy that we’re able to give him a goal in his comeback. Congratulations to Kiki and for the team as well,” he added.
For Ilocos FC’s Scottish Coach Ian Gillan admitted that they never expected that score line. “I was never beaten with such a big margin. But, Ceres FC is a ‘super team’. Now we have the benchmark of how we should strengthen the team. We will have another long day back in Ilocos,” he added.
Ceres FC will next face Meralco Manila FC on June 15 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium before returning to Bacolod for pair of matches against Davao San Miguel Aguilas on July 22 and 26.
