by Rod Hughes

When the mighty Alajuela soccer juggernaut has trouble making its way to a victory over the Univesity of Costa Rica. things are misfiring badly. But, “twas so yesterday in a game so lackluster it deserved to be televised in black and white.

To get through this briefly, let’s recap the scoring: Cristian Oviedo put Alajuela into the lead on a penalty kick after half an hour of uninspiring play and this was evened up by UCR’s Reynaldo Parks on a pnealty early in the second half. Alajuela won it on Cristian Montero’s goal.

UCR’s Jose Sanchez who came in at 46 minutes as a substitute managed to rack up yellow cards and get himself sent off by minute 75 while the team’s physical trainer Guillermo Lizano got a red card as well. But at least they gave fans something to remark about.

Other results Sunday: Here’s a real stunner—Brujas of Escazu 2, Saprissa 1. Saprissa’s midfielder Walter Centeno was old reliable again, but goals by D. Jimenez made his effort futile.

Heredia managed to back into the overall leadership it recently lost by tying San Carlos. Goals by Heredia’s Diaz and the Northern Warrior’s Hurtado. Goals by Chinchilla and Campos gave Santos the win over Perez Zeledon’s single goal by Gonzalez. Puntarenas and Carmelita tied it 1-1 on goals by Barbosa for the former and Diach for the latter.

And on Saturday, Liberia (of all people) massacred Puntarenas 4-0. Goals by Remy and Aleman and two for Siunsing kept the fans interested, although if the game had lasted a few more minutes, the water boy might have made one, too…