By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Iloilo elementary boys’ football team completed its dominance in the 2023 Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet with a 2-1 beating of Negros Occidental in the finals at the Aklan Sports Complex in Aklan province’s Makato town on Saturday night, April 29.
Alfin Bayotas and Kurt Arnel Deoduco scored a goal each for the Barotac Nuevo Elementary School-represented Team Iloilo to retain the championship in the regional meet.
Negros Occidental drew first blood in the championship game, but Team Iloilo relied on a late first half conversion by Bayotas as they forced a 1-1 deadlock heading into the halftime break.
In the second half, Deoduco drilled the difference maker as Team Iloilo surged ahead at 2-1 before the Ilonggos tightened its defense the rest of the way to prevent the Negrenses from tying the score.
Team Iloilo, which is mentored by Jasper Jan Santos, while Ariel Bedic, opened their WVRAA Meet campaign with an 8-0 beating of Aklan before following it up with a 2-0 victory over Negros Occidental to earn a twice-to-beat incentive in the finals.
Also part of Team Iloilo were Drystan Alexandrae Delgado-Torres, Nathan Howard Caligdong, Finley Nate Bedia, Jhon Army Condino, Vinz Kyru Bragancia, Gian Michael Porras, and John Lorenz Segocio.
Completing the Barotac Nuevo-based crew were Gem Andrei Dequit, Fritz Azhryl Chavez, Carl Justin Gabayno, James Michael Consular, Neil John Biclar, Ezekiel Joan Surmieda, Bryan Ejar, Nhelro Valderama, and Raiver Paul Fernandez.
Team Iloilo completed a sweep of the WVRAA Meet boys’ football tournament after also capturing the secondary boys’ gold medal with a 4-0 beating of Negros Occidental in the do-or-die finale.
The two Iloilo-based boys’ football squads will now advance to the pre-Palarong Pambansa tournament against the qualifiers from Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula.
The top-two finishers in the said cluster meet tentatively scheduled for July will then advance to the 2023 Palarong Pambansa proper, which is slated in Marikina City from July 29 to August 5, 2023./ASC, WDJ