ILOILO CITY – It took a ferocious second half effort from NOPSSCEA to shatter Iloilo resistance yesterday and capture the Western Visayas PRISAA men's football crown here.

Substitute striker Jaime Poderoso of West Negros College scored two goals in a bristling second-half assault that ensured a 6-2 victory and a third consecutive crown at the Iloilo Sports Complex pitch.

The triumph added 11 golds to the NOPSSCEA coffers in the overall standings currently paced by Iloilo .

Despite its perceived technical advantage after a 16-0 drubbing of Antique Tuesday, the NOPSSCEA side, a combination of WNC and University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos players, couldn't kill the match at halftime and needed two strikes from Poderoso to finally settle their nerves.

In fact, the Negrenses were almost caught napping by Iloilo 's jackrabbit start that saw the Ilonggos creating the first clear chance and hitting the post inside the opening 10 minutes.

But when their first opportunity came, the Negrenses were grabbed it with UNO-R marksman JP Gardose heading home the opener in the 13th minute after great work from WNC midfield dynamo Jaylor Soriano on the flanks.

They began to dominate the battle at midfield with Mark Ferrer and Soriano in command and, in the 38th minute, they doubled the advantage as Ferrer struck a low drive from the edge of the area after Gino Palomo's cutback.

Iloilo was handed a lifeline at the stroke of halftime by Peter Sobrido, whose sublime 30-yard effort curled in at the far post, leaving Negros keeper Irl Tomodos diving in vain.

In a quick move, Sobrido created space for himself at the left side with a delicate first touch and blasted the ball with his right foot.

The goal, however, couldn't spur the Ilonggos on, while Negros continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession at the beginning of the final half.

Gardose made way for Poderoso in the 60th minute and the substitute immediately made an impact, pouncing on a goalkeeper's mistake three minutes later to follow up Robert Canedo's botched long-range effort to make it 3-1.

Brilliant work by Soriano on the right flank paved the way for Poderoso's well-taken second goal in the 73rd minute.

Soriano dispossessed an Iloilo player and crossed to the center just inside the box, where Poderoso took one touch, before sending the ball into the bottom right corner to extinguish hopes of an Iloilo comeback.

In the 83rd minute, Canedo broke free at the side to slot home from inside six yards, after the referee played advantage despite a reckless tackle on NOPSSCEA player Joey Villarina, who completed the scoring with an 87th minute header.

The win gave Norman Fegidero's side the right to represent Western Visayas in the National PRISAA Meet in Zamboanga in April when football will be calendared for the first time in the Games, after it was staged as an exhibition sport last year.*CPT

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