THE MANDAUE City boys’ football squad composed of booters from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu.
CDN PHOTO/GLENDALE G. ROSAL
THE SACRED Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) Magis Eagles that represented Mandaue City will be back in the Palarong Pambansa after a three-year drought by beating Cviraa and Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) rivals, Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC), 2-1, in the boys secondary football championship yesterday at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex.
The Magis Eagles found the missing puzzle to dethrone the once unbeatable and defending champions DBTC booters by hiring renowned football coach Oliver Colina, the head coach of the multi-titled Leylam FC, to help head coach Jojo Tapia.
John Pomeroy Veloso scored a brace for SHS-AdC which all came from a header. Christian Agot retaliated for the Greywolves in the second half by scoring the team’s first goal but it was not enough to deter the good defense put up by the Magis Eagles.
It was a sweet revenge for Tapia, who has been coaching the Magis Eagles for six months now. His first encounter with DBTC ended in a heartbreaking loss in the Cesafi secondary boys’ finals last October.
“I had a very daunting task when I first handled this team because we faced Don Bosco in my first assignment and we lost that finals match. I told the school to provide me a person who can be my partner in developing this team back into their winning form that’s why we asked for help from Oliver Colina,” said Tapia. “Our prayers were answered because we found the right person to help us.”
Colina served as Tapia’s assistant coach and has been training the team since January.
The last time SHS-AdC played in the Palarong Pambansa was in 2015 in Tagum, Davao del Norte, where it lost to NCR in the quarterfinals.
In elementary football, Cebu City overwhelmed Tagbilaran City, 8-0, to clinch the gold medal.