Kaya ekes out 1-0 win over Stallion, boosts title bid

By Alder Almo | philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines – Kaya pumped up its bid for the season title in the Division 1 of the United Football League with a hard earned 1-nil victory over Penson Stallion Giligan's at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium tonight.

Kaya's win set up the stage for a dramatic finish of the season with Global trying to nail that title with a win or a draw against the Loyola Meralco Sparks in the ongoing match as of posting time.

Nate Burkey provided the scoring lift while Lexton Moy anchored the defense for Kaya, who lit up its hopes of stealing the title away from Global.

Burkey fired the marginal goal in the 43rd minute off a Joshua Beloya assist.

It was a typical grind-it-out win for the LBC-backed Kaya, who fought a physical and tough Stallion side.

The match started to get intense starting the second half with Stallion searching for that equalizing goal that never came.

A total of five yellow cards were handed out, with Stallion's leading scorer Ruben Doctora getting the boot with a red card in the 83rd minute of the match.

Kaya momentarily took the lead with 42 points pending the result of the ongoing match between Global (41) and Loyola, who fell to third after their last two matches resulted in a draw and a loss.