FEU Tamaraws top UAAP S85 standings after a solid win over the DLSU Green Booters

Photo credits: UAAP

Sending a statement to the rest of the competition, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws jumped to the top of the standings after a three-nil win over the De La Salle University Green Booters in their quest to bring back the title back to Morayta.

Heading into their matchup, the FEU Tamaraws were sitting at third place as they trail the Green Booters by two points who were leading the standings ahead of their rivals Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles.

However, with the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers' win over the Blue Eagles, the pressure was more onto the Green Booters to get the better of the Tamaraws in order to keep the top spot.

The Tamaraws played as the spoilers to the Green Booters' party as they ran riot and won three goals to nil to propel themselves to the top of the pecking order. Goals from Gio Pabualan, Karl Absalon, and Sherwin Basindanan gave them the all-important three points as they continue to play with the late Kieth Absalon's spirit pushing them to the Final Four.

"I think the boys deserve to be there. Yes, we had a difficult spell (in the middle of the season). After the realizations and conversion in the UE match, we're looking forward to continuing with this kind of FEU way of play," said FEU Tamaraws' head coach Vince Santos.

Both sides show their desire to win the match right from kick-off with the Green Booters getting a chance of their own in the 33rd minute with Vin Joel Dela Cruz's header but was dealt with by Jetrick Fabrigas.

FEU then brought their patented fluid play that ended in a shot by Absalon down the left but it was tipped wide by Mig Franz Brosoto. A minute before the end of regular time in the first half, Mikio Umilin found a gap in the defense of the Tamaraws that allowed him to provide an outlet for one of his teammates but it was deflected out for a corner by Mel Anthony Baylon.

The opening goal came at the end of the first half when Stephen John Soria won a penalty for the Tamaraws after breaking away from the backline of the Green Booters which led to Pabualan's conversion by sending the keeper the wrong way. The Tamaraws turned on the jets at the start of the second half showing some tactical approach to their attacks while allowing their wingers to show their paces.

At the hour mark of the match, Pabualan was roaming in acres of space down the left flank who then fed an incisive pass to Martini Rey who was unfortunately caught by the offside flag. Four minutes later, Gio would produce a chance of his own taking on the keeper inside the 18-yard box but his strike was tipped away by Brosoto.

Their second goal came in the 71st minute thanks Absalon who was found by Basindanan, who came in as a substitute in the 67th minute and immediately made an impact to the match, with a cross from the left wing which was easily converted by Absalon from close range. The Tamaraws closed out the night with a third goal from Basindanan who was still shaking his fresh legs. With acres of space inside the box, Basindanan put on his scoring boots and puts the nail in the coffin of the Green Booters.

Despite a shaky first half, coach Santos was unbothered with by how the Green Booters showed their mettle in attack. After being asked on his thoughts on DLSU's offense, he said, "Relentless attacks? I'm not sure. I think they slowed down the game because that's what they wanted to do. We ended up playing their game at the start that's why we were slow."

The Green Booters have a chance to grab second place back from their rivals Blue Eagles as they face Adamson Soaring Falcons on the 27th of April while hoping the Blue Eagles drop points against the UE Red Warriors in their 4:30 PM match before the Taft-based booters kick off at 6:30 PM the same day.

They'll then face each other in the final day of the elimination rounds to determine who gets the number two seed.

For the Tamaraws, on the other hand, they hold the fate of both the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons and the UST Growling Tigers with their remaining fixtures. They'll take on UST first on the 30th of April wherein if they win over UST, they would allow UP to steal the final ticket to the final four with just a draw in their final fixture of the elimination rounds on the fourth of May thanks to their +1 advantage in goal difference.