ILOILO City – Santa Barbara emerged as champions in the U-15 boys division of the Iloilo Football Developmental League on Wednesday afternoon at the Iloilo Sports Complex.
Santa Barbara clinched the football crown after beating archrival Barotac Nuevo via penalty shootout, 3-2, in the tightly-contested championship game.
Both Santa Barbara and Barotac Nuevo exhibited tight defense in the opening half, leaving a scoreless deadlock heading into the break.
Santa Barbara, however, became aggressive in the restart that led to Justin Marc Pangilayan scoring from a direct kick at the 53rd minute to give his squad a 1-0 edge.
Santa Barbara though they were headed to a victory but Barotac Nuevo sneaked in a conversion courtesy of Marc Christian Doctora at the 90th minute to send the match to extra time.
In the 10-minute extension, both teams got a conversion each from Barotac Nuevo’s Ted Baylon and Sta. Barbara’s Philip Jaydrick Sendino for a 2-2 scoreline.
As the match was headed to penalty shootout, Santa Barbara finally put away Barotac Nuevo by converting three penalty kicks as against to their opponent’s two.
On their way to the championship round, Santa Barbara defeated Janiuay, while Barotac Nuevo edged Cabatuan. Cabatuan salvaged the bronze medal with a win over Janiuay.
The U-15 boys football was one of the three sporting events organized by Center for sports and Physical Fitness of Province of Iloilo aside from the 3×3 volleyball and 3×3 basketball.
Dumangas ruled the 3×3 volleyball with Oton and Pavia finishing second and third, while Barotac Nuevo topped the 3×3 basketball with Dumangas and Integros ending as runner ups./PN
