| BAGO CITY – West Negros College snapped a string of heart-breaks in sterling fashion, ruling the NOFA Men's Under-19 Provincial Championship for the seventh straight year here yesterday
The Wesnecans had their way against rival University of St. La Salle , earning a 5-0 victory, thanks to a double from skipper Mark Ferrer who also assisted on goals by Joven Bedic and Vince Braga at the Manuel Torres Sports Center pitch.
Their dominance, however, was hardly reflected in the scoreline and, if not for the bar, which denied them seven times, they would have easily breached the 10-goal mark.
Much of the pre-finals hype came from the La Salle camp that had asked for additional security in the aftermath of its chaotic semifinal win over home team Bago where unruly spectators had gone after their players.
Security was indeed in place yesterday but it hardly mattered since it was West Negros that ran riot to seal the crown that comes after successive defeats to a reinforced La Salle side in the Men's Open and the senior La Salle squad in the University Games.
The convincing victory, though, hardly impressed WNC coach Norman Fegidero, who called on his players to raise their level of play in the next tournament.
“We won but I still expect better performances from them,” Fegidero said.
The Wesnecans went into the game having put in five goals against a young San Carlos side in the semifinals last week.
But with La Salle opting to clog up midfield, they found difficulty unlocking the defense.
The WNC booters' build up almost always reached the attacking third. But to their frustration, they were either poor in delivering the final and telling balls into the box or were wasteful in finishing.
And La Salle almost made them pay in the 22nd minute when Arvin Gaspi conjured La Salle's only chance, finding an opening on the left flank only for WNC keeper Kieth Miravalles to parry away his left-footed effort.
So it came as no surprise that the first goal in the 29th minute was greeted by relief rather than a pompous celebration.
At any rate, the flowing move leading to the goal underlined the gulf in quality between the two teams.
Receiving a through ball from Ferrer, Braga , whose early header was foiled by Ferdinand Gamboa, cut through the defense with the good first touch before smashing the ball into the roof of the net with his left foot.
Despite their superiority, the Wesnecans were made to wait 16 minutes to double their lead. This time, it was Ryan Lirio who created the opening from the left side, finding Ferrer, whose volley was headed home by Bedic from close range.
Ferrer morphed into goal-scorer in the 54th minute, blasting the ball home from eight yards after Bedic's header had cannoned off the post.
There could have been more goals in between Ferrer's first goal and his 74th minute marker off a corner kick if not for Gamboa's efforts and the goalposts.
Bedic, the 2005 national under-19 best striker awardee while playing for Iloilo , escaped his defender on the left side and superbly squared the ball to Braga , who, however, saw his weak effort pushed to the post by Gamboa.
Right winger Gino Palomo was also denied by the upright twice so was Braga and Lirio, who later managed to get on the scoresheet with 10 minutes remaining.
It was the Barotac Nuevo-born Bedic who pushed the ball into Lirio's path and the player from San Carlos City eluded two defenders, before beating Gamboa.
The La Sallians had limited attacking threats and when they threatened, Francisco Donieza and Rhanty Bayquin were up to the task.
Earlier, San Carlos secured third place with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Bago City .
Striker John Mulliken scored in the 9th and 51st minutes to set the tone for the rout, before Antonio Sucayre and Ralph Layumas completed the scoring.*CPT
back to top
|