THE Davao Region secondary boys football team last year finished the Palarong Pambansa in style, beating Central Visayas for the gold that capped an amazing run for the team and coach Ramonito Carreon.
This time, there was no celebration. Instead, the Davao boys wept in defeat as Central Visayas avenged its loss to the same squad last year with a 2-1 victory in the gold-medal match Saturday morning.
Central Visayas scored two goals in the first half and held off a spirited Davao assault in the second half to seal the match and collect the gold medal that eluded the squad in Tarlac.
Jomar Acedo, the hero of Davao's gold-medal conquest last year, ended his final Palaro campaign on a sour note as he failed to lift his teammates around in the face of the Cebuano's gutsy performance.
Carreon said most of his players are first-timers in the Palaro and experienced jitters specially in the first half where the Cebuano booters started their onslaught.
Acedo, a five-time Palaro player, cried along with the rest of his teammates during the medal presentation.
"It was painful because we were not able to defend our crown and this is my last Palaro stint," Acedo said in the vernacular.
Meanwhile, the Davao Football Association will go up against Ceres Negros Team in one of the crossover semifinals today of the Philippine Football Federation Suzuki Cup U23 National Cup football tournament in Barotoc Nuevo, Iloilo.
The Negrense booters had topped Group A of the quarterfinals with a 5-1-0 record, while Davao ended up second behind Iloilo with a 3-2-1 card in Laguna last week.
In the other semis match, host Iloilo plays National Capital Region Team B. (CRAM)
Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on May 16, 2011.
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