By Mars G. Alison
ERCO FC and University of San Carlos (USC) were the big winners in Sunday’s 4th Sinulog Football Festival which had matches played simultaneously at the Aboitiz Sports Field and the San Roque football field in Mandaue City.
ERCO is becoming to be one of the teams to watch after snaring two of the five titles up for grabs while USC clinched its fourth straight title in the Ladies Open.
ERCO B blanked Tabor Hills for the most coveted Men’s Open title at the Aboitiz Sports Field while over at the San Roque football field, it edged Leylam, 3-2, for the Inter-Company title.
ERCO B marched into the finals with a 1-0 win over Camputhaw while Tabor Hills earned the remaining finals ticket also with a 1-0 score over Warzhockz.
In the Inter-Company battle, ERCO squeezed past San Miguel, 2-1, in the semifinals while Leylam advanced via a 2-0 thrashing of KN Ferraren.
In the Ladies Open, USC held fast to the title it owned since the start of this 7-A-Side festival by stopping San Roque Football Club (SRFC) A from answering its lone goal.
USC had prevailed in a 1-0 penalty shootout against the Don Bosco Ladies in the final four while SRFC A accomplished a 3-0 routing of UP FC A.
The two remaining categories played Sunday saw new champions with Convergys bagging the Inter-BPO title while Kevlar Queen City United (QCU) A brought home the 38-Above title.
Convergys gave Lexmark a 2-0 spanking while Kevlar QCU A finished with a 1-0 edging of Venice SRFC.
Convergys earned a finals ticket via a 2-1 semifinals win over Author Solution while Lexmark showed steel nerves by winning the penalty shootout against Stream, 5-4.
In the 38-Above class, on the other hand, Kevlar QCU A advanced to the championship with a 1-0 blanking of SRFC while Venice-SRFC booted out JEH Don Bosco.
Overage Players
The tournament was marred not only by the continuous rain over the weekend but also by the fielding of overage players.
Organizers Francis Ramirez and Dino Musni have discovered some teams fielding overage players in the Under 13 Boys and Under 15 Boys categories.
According to Musni, during the coaches meeting, organizers and teams have agreed to bring credentials of their players during the matches so as not to disrupt the game schedules which were fast-paced being a festival.
A team which does not have its players’ credentials will not be allowed to play. Or, if they received a complaint against a team, which has already played, its credentials will be checked and if found guilty, will be disqualified.
Although both incidents were readily resolved, Ramirez and Musni said they will be filing reports to the Cebu Football Association (CFA) and it will be up to the local footballing body to decide on the sanction.
This tournament which came to an end yesterday was presented by the CFA and the Super Metro.
