BACOLOD City—Cebu defended its AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup title with a pulsating 2-1 win over tough Bonifacio Global City (BGC) at the La Provincia Polo Field in Bacolod City Sunday.
In both halves of this national championship for seven-a-side football, BGC subjected Cebu to an intense barrage of shots but keeper Leonard Tan was quick to parry all of them in the seven-a-side tournament.
The defending champions made the most out of their few opportunities to stun BGC behind goals from Hayato Fukui in the 36th minute and John Clyde Vitualla in the 45th minute.
Tonaldo pulled one back for BGC with a penalty in the 49th minute. However, with only a minute of play left, the Manila-based squad was unable to equalize.
Cebu went undefeated in the tournament at 4-0.
Cebu swarmed BGC on opening day, 3-1, punched a ticket to the semifinals with a 9-4 hammering of Iloilo.
The Cebuanos made short work of the home side, Bacolod, 4-1, in the crossover semifinals to return to the finals.
BGC, after losing to Cebu, outlasted Iloilo, 7-5, and crushed San Carlos, 7-0, in the semifinals.
Cebu’s Leonard Tan was named the Best Goalkeeper while his teammate, John Clyde Vitualla was awarded the Most Valuable Player trophy.
BGC salvaged some pride when Tonaldo took home the Best Scorer trophy with six goals.