Don Bosco suffers brunt of road closure

THE closure of the major roads for the Sinulog solemn procession hindered some players from making it to their scheduled games in the 15th Aboitiz Footballl Cup yesterday at Aboitiz Sports Field.

But it was Don Bosco Technical Center who suffered the most, as the powerhouse team lost its ground and fumbled yesterday when their performance was affected by the lack of players in the squad.

"Naa mi players na wala kaduwa kay wala na kaagi kay na-blocked na ang road nga gi-agian sa procession as early as 11 a.m.," said head coach Dave Gerali.

In an unlikely situation, DBTC, which was supposed to play 15 games in the Players 8, Players 10, Boys 12 and Boys 14—only won six matches and surrendered their other matches with two giveaways via default.

In the Players 8, out of the 8 games, it was only DBTC-4 that secured the win against Children's Paradise Montessori School, 2-1. DBTC-C beat Canduman, 1-0.

DBTC-1 forfeited its game against Warshockz, while the other results were lopsided victories against Bright Academy, 7-1; St. John Kenty, 8-0; Hijas de Jesus, 17-0; and Sacred Heart School- Ateneo de Cebu, 11-0.

BMALV managed to outshine them, 2-0.

Team Warshockz once again benefitted from DBTC’s debacle, winning via another default from DBTC-3, this time in the Players 10. Warshockz later lost, 9-0, to Canduman FC.

DBTC-1 routed Dinamo FC for a 5-1 beating and also scored another win against Center for International Education via default.

In the Boys 12, it won two of its three matches. DBTC-1 crushed CIE, 10-0 while DBTC-2 survived Srp FC, 2-0.It dropped its game against Hijas de Jesus, 4-1.

Paref Springdale made a demolition job against CPMS, 16-0.

At this point of the match, DBTC had even requested for a bus to pick up the players at a certain location to bring them to the venue.

"Dili naman jud nakaagi. Maayo nalang jud nakalusot pa tong bus," Gerali added.

DBTC also faltered in the Boys 14 and succumbed to the might of rival Sacred Heart Ateneo de Cebu-A, 3-0, while Paref Springdale took home another victory after defeating Hijas de Jesus, 13-0.

Subangdaku FC, which is powered by Little Azkals players, fueled the 15-0 win against Paref Springdale-B.

Gerali noted that the outcome of today's matches would have been different had they had a full lineup in their teams.

He added that the absence of some players, majority of whom are from the south, have really crippled the team's performance.

But Gerali said that they will have to put this playing experience to good use as they prepare for a football festival set on the school's founder's day by the end of the month.