ERCO streaks past Athletico Cebu in Aboitiz Cup football

CEBU, Philippines - Team ERCO, manned by booters from the University of Cebu and Southwestern University, opened its title campaign with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Athletico Cebu in the men's open division of the 15th Aboitiz Cup football tournament yesterday at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center field in Brgy. Talamban, this city.

Jessie Roy Melgo knocked in ERCO’s first goal at the 12th, the same time his teammate Jesus Menaling was slapped with a yellow card.

Tom Booth scored the equalizer for Athletico at the 49th, but Neri Mole, Jr. found the back of the net seven minutes later to push ERCO on top again, 2-1.

At the 78th, Melgo was given a yellow card, but his teammate Raymond Torres kept ERCO going with a crisp goal.

Booth hit another goal for Athletico Cebu at the 94th, but that was all they could muster, paving the way for ERCO's hairline win.

In the other men's play, Marjuan Capul and Jason Calunsa stole the thunder as the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Alumni hammered BMEG-Camellanz, 2-0. Capul punched a goal at the 10th,while Calunsa made his contribution at the 19th.

In the under-23 division, the University of the Visayas defeated Philsca, 1-0. Erick Duan delivered the game's lone goal at the 26th. USC, for its part, fought to a 1-1 draw with the University of Southern Philippines Foundation.

Over at the Aboitiz Sports Field in Brgy. Subangdaku, Mandaue City, the Don Bosco Technology Center-A and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu set up a championship showdown in the players 6 category on December 8.

DBTC-A silenced Giuseppe, 3-0, while SHS-AdC ousted DBTC-B, 3-02, in the other semis match.

In the inter-company battle, Unitech, Accenture and Innodata all enjoyed 2-0 victories over Springdale, Author Solution and San Miguel United, respectively.

Leylam, on the other hand, came up with a 5-0 thrashing of Convergys-B, while Convergys-B and Team NCR slammed Timex-LS and Wipro with similar scores of 4-0. ERCO fought to a 1-1 draw with Lear FC, while Stream's match against Springdale ended in a scoreless draw. (FREEMAN)