MANILA – Cebu Leylam F.C. Niños ruled the inaugural Philam Vitality KAMPEON 7s Cup after a 5-3 victory over Maharlika F.C. Manila in the finals over at McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig City.
Marius Kore spearheaded the attack with a hat-trick in the opening half before the Niños held on for the victory.
The tournament was also participated by powerhouse teams from Bacolod and Davao.
The Cebuanos were on top 3-0 in the opening half before Aly Borromeo pulled one back for Manila early in the second half inside the box before Anton del Rosario added another for the Manilenyos.
Leo Maquiling found himself with a lot of space. He drained another goal past Manila keeper Cedric Hodreal for a 4-2 Cebu edge before Manila pulled to within 3-4 on Hamed Hadjimehdi’s penalty kick.
Manila had multiple opportunittes to equalize in the final minutes, including a volley from Borromeo which went above the crossbar, and a strike by Mateo Yuhico that went wide before Cebu sealed the win on Maquiling’s second goal.
“We worked hard for this tournament. We trained for two months. We believed and we knew nothing could stop us,” said Kore. “For me, it’s also my first time to play in a tournament like this, going against some professionals, so it was a good challenge.” Kore was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Cebu’s keeper, Bennydick Saligan, took home the Best Goal Keeper of the tournament plum while Hadjimehdi won the Golden Boot Award after scoring five goals in Day 2 alone./PN
