ILOILO CITY --- A superb first half strike from Southeast Asian Games campaigner Arnie Pasinabo lifted Negros Occidental to a 1-0 victory over Zamboanga yesterday in the PFF-National Men's Open Football Championships at the La Paz pitch here.

The win pushed Negros, 5-0 winners over Masbate Tuesday, to the semis but it still needs to beat tournament debutant North Cotabato at 3 p.m. today to grab the top ranking in Group A.

As expected, title-holder National Capital Region breezed through the Final Four while perennial contender Iloilo received a brief scare before advancing to the next phase.

Drawing a hat-trick each from Ali Borromeo and Ian Araneta, NCR whitewashed Iligan, 10-0, at the Barotac Nuevo pitch, while the Ilonggos fought back from a goal down to beat Baguio, 5-2.

The North Cotabato booters continued to make heads turn with a decisive 3-1 triumph over Masbate for its second win that allowed them to complete the semifinal cast.

The semifinal pairings, however, will be determined today when NCR faces Iloilo for the No. 1 slot in Group B in Sta. Barbara town.

Pasinabo, who played right wing for the Philippine Team during the SEA Games in Bacolod, received the ball from Ali Rojas at the center just outside the penalty box and blasted the ball at the left side of the goal for the game-winner in the 16th minute.

What followed, however, was a series of frustrating failed opportunities that saw strikers Floriano Pasilan, Reydric Viliran and midfielders Ali Rojas, Jason Panhay and Jerome Orcullo either see their shots go wide or land straight into the hands of the Zamboanga goalkeeper.

"The players became overeager in the second half. They played only for themselves and not for the team," coach Freddie Lazarito told the DAILY STAR.

"I have to inject the team mentality to the players in the next game or our road to the title will end in the semis," Lazarito, whose squad is bannered by players from the University of St. La Salle, added.

The Negros coach said he would rather face host Iloilo in the semifinals rather than NCR. "We have a better chance against Iloilo. We just have to silence the crowd," he added.

With the crowd of about 3,000 getting uneasy at the break because of a lackluster first half performance, the Iloilo booters turned their games up a notch to secure the win.

"This one's for the people of Barotac. They did not want us to lose," said Iloilo coach Lurex Araneta, whose players were bombarded by complaints from the crowd, while leaving the field at halftime.

Kenley Delgado struck twice in the first half to keep Iloilo afloat, before local boy Ruben Doctora, Bervic Italia and Dan Padernal knocked in a goal each in the final half as Iloilo secured win No. 2 in Group B.

Iloilo got an early shock in the 12th minute when Baguio's Sudanese striker Izzeden Elhabib fired a brilliant one-touch volley from 18 yards out that left the huge crowd dumbstruck.

After Delgado leveled the match in the 21st minute and scored on a header in the 30th minute for a 2-1 lead, the lanky Sudanese forward was at it again at the stroke of halftime, striking a header after latching on a cross from Eugene Segundo.

Then, Iloilo was at its normal aggressive self in the second half and were rewarded by Doctora's goal in the 70th minute. Italia's free kick found the back of the net two minutes later, after its bounce was misjudged by the Baguio keeper, before Padernal, who produced a hat-trick in a 5-0 crushing of Iligan punctuated the rout in the 77th.

First half goals from Bonifacio Mangga Jr. (4th minute), Gerald Maldo (10th) and Peter Jaugen carried the boys from M'lang, North Cotabato to the next phase.

Fresh from a two-goal performance against Baguio, Araneta continued his awesome goal-scoring ways, making all of his three goals in the second half just like Borromeo, whose 66th minute score off a free kick turned out to be the best goal of the game.

Nestorio Magarse, Luisito Brilliantes, Jeoffrey Lobaton and Emilio Caligdong also contributed a goal each for NCR, which routed Baguio, 4-1, Tuesday. *CPT

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