FEU goes atop UAAP men's football leaderboard after first round

c/o UAAP

FAR Eastern University finished the first round on top of the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Football Tournament with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over University of Santo Tomas Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium.

After absorbing TJ Garciano’s opener for the Golden Booters in the 56th minute, the Tamaraws finally woke up from their slumber.

Defender Mel Anthony Baylon put the defending champions back on track with the 74th-minute leveler while Martini Rey gave FEU its first taste of the lead in the 85th minute with a fine individual effort at the edge of the UST box.

Tamaraws defender Andre Yu then sealed the Tamaraws’ fifth straight win of the tournament with a goal in stoppage time. 

FEU will enter the second round of the competition in first place with 15 points and a plus+9 goal difference.

The Tamaraws streaked to five straight wins after a season-opening defeat.

“It makes me that much prouder of the boys because they have that winning mentality and that’s key for me,” said FEU coach Albert Besa. “It’s a very important factor to have in a player and a team. They can’t accept defeat and they will do everything they can to get up and fight and fight and fight.”

“That’s where the ‘gigil’ came from. We were down 1-0 and they realized ‘oh no, we can actually lose this game.’ I saw the passion build from there. It might have been a blessing in disguise for this game.

On the other hand, UST remained outside the Final Four spots in fifth place with seven points and a plus-2 goal difference on the back of two wins, one draw, and one defeat.