Monday, December 31, 2007 Emar captures football title By Romy Sabaldan
DARWIN Salavia showed the form that made him a real standout of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-15 but it was Roelfred Napuran's hat trick that gave Emar Learning Center the championship with a 4-3 win over the Ateneo de Davao White Team in the finals of the Mayor's Cup-Holcim Philippines Inter-High School Football Tournament Saturday at the DFA-Tionko field in Davao City.
Emar blanked Ateneo in the first 40 minutes of the match, 2-0, before getting stiff challenge in the second half and eventually pulling through.
Goalkeeper Kenneth Galvez had serveral fantastic saves for Emar down the stretch and was named the tournament's best goal tender.
The Ateneo booters were closing in on a lucky break by the stocky forward Anton Maligad on the 75th and another goal that slipped past through Emar's own goal in a 10-man scramble giving Ateneo its third goal with only a few seconds to go in the match.
Emar completed the devastating attack in Ateneo's right wing at the 64th off Napuran's hat trick.
DFA's winningest coach Ramonito "Lalas" Carreon, a protégé of Germany-trained Coach Pops Vilela, took charge of Emar's latest championship campaign.
AFC Malaysia-bound coach Dave Penano and the stockier Ateneo team took the brunt of Emar's well-executed, hard-grind play.
Awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament was Emar's tiny, slippery forward Darwin Salavia.
