FEU stays unbeaten; ties UE on top

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Dec 4th 2013

Far Eastern University (FEU) kept its unblemished record intact on Tuesday as the Tamaraws clobbered University of Santo Tomas (UST), 3-1, in the 76^th UAAP football tournament at the FEU Diliman pitch.

With ace striker Jess Melliza on target anew, the rampaging Tamaraws outscored the Tigers in the crucial second half to grab their third victory and tie University of the East (UE) on top at 3-0.

Melliza, last season’s top scorer, broke a 1-1 first-half deadlock with a go-ahead foray in the 62^nd minute to push the Tamaraws up.

UST had a chance to equalize anew but Ronald Batisla-ong’s penalty shot hit the FEU defensive wall and the Tamaraws gained possession of the rebound.

The Tamaraws then employed superb on-ball defense to repeatedly thwart UST’s attacks before Melliza found the net anew with a bullet kick in the 89^th minute that put the count beyond question.

Patrick O’Neill delivered UST’s lone goal in the 36^th minute after the Tamaraws lit up the chart 10 minutes into the contest. UST dropped to a tie for third place with a 1-1-2 win-loss-draw card.

In other matches, University of the Philippines blanked National University, 2-0, while defending champion Ateneo de Manila University and UE settled for a 1-1 draw.

Rounding up the provisional standings thus far are Ateneo (1-1-1), UP (1-0-2), De La Salle University (1-0-2), and NU (0-1-3).