MANILA – Kaya Iloilo banked on the heroics of Jovin Bedic to snatch the inaugural 2018 Philippines Football League Copa Paulino Alcantara crown with a 1-0 victory over Davao Aguilas on Saturday night at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo native made the title-clinching goal in the 28th minute of the first extension period from a pass by Robert Lopez Mendy at the center.
Along with bagging the Copa Alcantara title, Kaya also earned the right to join fellow Western Visayas-based team Ceres Negros as Philippine representative in the 2019 AFC Cup.
Kaya struggled with its attempts early in the match with Lopez Mendy and Bedic misfiring in their tries. Aguilas also failed to get decent shots with the stifling defense of Kaya.
Aguilas dominated the second half of the regulation with multiple attacks on Kaya’s defense but the opponents’ goalkeeper Nathanael Ace Villanueva did well in blocking them.
Kaya had opportunities to win with close-range attempts from Lopez Mendy and Jalsor Soriano but Aguilas goalkeeper Patrick Deyto made it difficult for their shots to come through.
In the extension period, the Iloilo-based team had chances to snatch the lead when Miguel Tanton and Audie Menzi were given penalty shots. Aguilas, for its part, struggled to bring the ball to their side.
After few more misses, Kaya finally snatched the go-ahead goal with two minutes remaining in the extension as Bedic slammed the ball in the middle from a nice pass by Lopez Mendy.
“As representatives of Iloilo, we also want to give honor to the legendary Paulino Alcantara,” Kaya head coach Noel Marcaida said of the Ilonggo-Spanish football legend after whom the tournament was named.
“When the Cup started, like Davao (Aguilas), it was our intention to be in the final,” he added. “Like what I said (in the pre-finals conference), this is going to be an exciting game with both teams in good form. Good thing for us, we were able to come out on top in the end.”/PN
