Saturday, October 15, 2011

Solido back with a vengeance, takes Croc League 2nd leg


Solido FC came back with a vengeful night and all of a sudden found themselves perched on top of the standings in the 2011 Davao Crocodile Park Croctoberfest Night Football League.

Solido’s youthful three-headed offensive line of Jed Diamante, Javi Romero-Salas and Miko Arrieta proved to be the difference as the Orangemen took home the second leg title at the expense of surprise finalist Belisario FC 2-0 at the DCP Field.

Romero-Salas opened up the scoring in the first half with a blast from 10 yards after a nifty pass from fellow Little Azkal Diamante. In the second, Romero-Salas returned the favour and Diamante booted home another marker for the final score line.

Everyone was expecting another Metro TMS-Solido finale after the bitter rivals which disputed the title in the first leg last week once again topped their respective groups. First leg champion Metro TMS easily topped Group A with wins against a loss while Solido finished on top of Group B with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. FC Soriente (4-1-1) and Belisario (3-1-2) completed the semis cast.

But in a surprise twist, Metro TMS gave up two successive goals late in the match to bow down to Belisario. Solido meantime beat Soriente to advance to their second straight finals appearance.

“Hard work paid off for us. I hope we can sustain our momentum for the third and final leg,” said Buboy Arrieta, Solido FC team captain.

Thus, after two legs Solido overtook Metro TMS on top of the standings with 85 points in this football trilogy organized by the Davao Crocodile Park and Bravetower Events Promotions. Metro TMS dropped to second overall with 75. Belisario climbed to third overall with 35 followed by Black Knights-KMPPC with 35, Phl Rabies and Soriente (30).

Club 34, Kingfisher, UIC, DMMA, UM CAE, Alia Orange, and Central United are tied with 20 points while Fil-Chi has 10.

A total of 14 squads are entered in the tournament sanctioned by the Davao Football Association and supported by the Davao Football Community. The final leg will be on Friday night with the overall champion receiving the rare Crocodile Cup made up of real crocodile head.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Metro TMS wins Croctoberfest Night Football 1st Leg



Metro TMS captured the first leg title of the 2011 Davao Crocodile Park Croctoberfest Night Football League on Sunday beating archrival Solido FC 1-0 at the DCP Field.

Veteran Eric Salumbides connected on a swerving floater from the right wing midway into the first half that sailed beyond reach of Solido’s keeper Rad Cambronero whose last second dive was a heartbeat short.

That goal turned out to be the one that mattered for Metro TMS which will earn 50 points for winning the opening leg of this football trilogy organized by the Davao Crocodile Park and Bravetower Events Promotions. Solido will earn 35 points for the runner-up honors.

The two teams, known in the local football circle as bitter rivals in the second division, actually opened the tournament with an early confrontation in Group B. They battled to a 1-all draw which set up their long road to the finals.

“It was a tough game. It’s always hard playing against Solido,” said Metro TMS owner Eric Sedighpour.

His counterpart from Solido, Buboy Arrieta, said they could have scored the first goal but referee Melchor Anzures nullified a possible conversion early in the game.

It turned up a lot more heated from there as the match turned more physical. Solido’s three-pronged attack centered around their young recruits—Japoy Diamante, Javi Romero-Salas and Miko Arrieta—got all banged up by Metro’s harrowing defense. To their credit, Diamante and Romero-Salas, both mainstays of the country’s Little Azkals squad, had at least four decent attempts in the second half.

Black Knights finished 3rd with a shootout win over Philippine Rabies-Med Juris, 6-5.

A total of 14 squads were entered in the tournament sanctioned by the Davao Football Association and supported by the Davao Football Community. The next leg will be on Friday night with the women’s division set to start along with the High School Boys Division. Interested teams may contact Christian Ea 09237280441.

The leg winners will receive a medium-sized crocodile head cup with the team emerging with the highest points winning the specially crafted full-sized crocodile head cup.