CHAMPIONS… finally!
The proverbial “third time is the charm.” Try and try until you succeed.
Yes, after finishing as bridesmaid in two successive AIA Vitality Kampeon Cups, Bonifacio Global City-Taguig can finally call itself a champion following a 4-2 win over
Iloilo at the Dynamic Herb sports Complex in Cebu last Sunday.
At first, it seemed like a third consecutive repeat flop performance in the finals when
Iloilo’s James Tuazon opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
BGC-Taguig’s prized pick-up, Tyler John quickly doused Iloilo’s reverie with cold water
with a strike of his own a minute later to level the match at 1-1.
With the momentum having shifted, Jesus Pacheco, the winner of BGC-Taguig’s semi-
finals win over Cebu, added a second goal. John added a brace in extra time of the first
period to make it 3-1.
Then Iloilo began its fight back with Kenneth Lecoto pulling one back in the 34th minute to make a game of it.
As the score ended, 3-2, in regulation, the comeback period saw both teams nearly score a goal.
With teams now down to three-versus-three, Iloilo’s goalkeeper made an errant pass that BGC-Taguig’s MJ Libre picked off and struck for championship point.
An ecstatic BGC-Taguig team poured on to the Dynamic Herb Sports Complex pitch in
jubilation erasing their two previous finals losses to Cebu including a 2-1 thrill from last season.
“I thought we played very well,” enthused Tyler John who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “We knew this was going to be a battle so we stuck to the game plan.”
“We started out very strong and had them on their heels but they scored and the momentum shifted. We talked about how this game would be in waves. We had to ride out the wave and face the pressure. And we ended up getting the dub.”
He also glowed about teammate MJ Libre’s endgame heroics: “He ended up winning that tackle when they were about to go on the counter and he ended up scoring the winning goal.”
Libre who has given a very good account of himself with BGC-Taguig as well as Team Philippines in the Asia 7s Football Championships was happy for the redemption.
