Bation III brace salvages point for UP

c/o UAAP

UAAP Season 87 Collegiate Men’s Football Tournament Standings

*Ateneo 25pts (+20GD)  

*FEU 24pts (+21) 

*UP 23pts (+15) 

*UST 14 pts (-5) 

DLSU 10pts (-11) 

UE 9pts (-15) 

ADU 6pts (-25)

*Final Four

Women's Matches on Saturday at UP Diliman Football Stadium

4 p.m. -  UP vs UST

6:30 p.m. - DLSU vs FEU

DEFENDING champion University of the Philippines stormed back from two goals down to battle with Far Eastern University to a 2-2 stalemate to split points Thursday night in the UAAP Season 87 men's football tournament at the UP Football Stadium.

Ramil Bation III netted a second-half brace to hike his goal total to seven as the Fighting Maroons earned a point to keep their hopes alive of finishing as the No. 1 team in the eliminations.

Third-running UP is now with 23 points, two off league-leading Ateneo. 

The Tamaraws failed to wrest the lead, as they remained in second spot with 24 points, one behind the Blue Eagles, as coach Roman Oliver's side has already done with the elims.

"Of course, one of the messages is how we can emulate or excel coming from the UST game. The message was to keep that hunger and help each other on the field. If one makes a mistake, the other is there to cover for it. And of course, the effort—clearly, it showed throughout the ninety minutes plus stoppage time. The effort was there, everyone was there to cover and help one another. It showed in how we were able to equalize against FEU," said UP head coach Popoy Clarino.

That made the final elimination round matchday on Sunday more exciting to determine the Final Four pairings. UP will face also-ran De La Salle, while Ateneo takes on University of Santo Tomas.

Karl Absalon opened the scoring with a 18th minute penalty before FEU doubled the lead courtesy of Selwyn Mamon in the 80th minute.

The Fighting Maroons pulled one back after Bation struck in the 86th minute before producing a stoppage-time equalizer that broke the backs of the Tamaraws.

“We’ve always trusted our players. Whoever we put in, we place our full trust in them. We know they can do the job, and they showed it. We’re happy with their performance, and hopefully, we can carry this experience into the following games," Clarino said.