By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
ONE of the teams whose inaugural Philippines Football League (PFL) campaign got intermittently halted because of various commitments, including international ones, Ceres-Negros FC eventually underscored its standing as the best club in the country by bagging the first-ever championship of the newly formed national league.
Defeating Global Cebu FC, 4-1, in the maiden final match of the PFL at the Panaad Park and Football Stadium in Bacolod City on Saturday, “The Busmen” were dominant right from the get-go with Iain Ramsay leading the way with a hat trick en route to the title.
The win was in contrast to the previous matches that Ceres and Global had in the regular season which were tightly fought and went in contrast to the expectations of many pundits and observers.
Bienvenido Maranon, the league’s top goal scorer, started the scoring parade for Ceres, finding the bottom of the net in the fourth minute, sending the hometown crowd to early celebration.
Global had a good chance to equalize immediately after but Rufo Sanchez’s attempt failed to go through.
Mr. Ramsay made it 2-nil, scoring his first goal of the night in the 20th minute off a pass from teammate Stephan Schrock.
Ceres further buried Global, 3-0, seven minutes later as Azkals member Ramsay was on the scoring end anew.
The Busmen maintained the comfortable lead heading into the halftime break as they rebuffed every Global attempt to gain traction.
Ceres pretty much sealed the championship when Mr. Ramsay completed his hat trick in the 61st minute when he slotted in an assist from Patrick Reichelt.
Global though would save some face as the match wore on with Darryl Roberts converting a goal in the 89th minute before the final whistle sounded.
For his sparkling performance on the offensive end, Mr. Ramsay was named man of the match in the championship game.
Mr. Ramsay highlighted collective hard work as key to their success in the inaugural season of the PFL, which took the place of the United Football League.
He also gave credit to the experience they had in various international competitions for strengthening their legs to compete.
“It’s been a lot of hard work to get to this stage. Fortunately for us in Ceres we’ve had a lot of success in the AFC Cup, becoming ASEAN Champions. This just caps it off, to win the final. Massive congratulations go to the whole club of Ceres, the people of Negros, my teammates, and the coaching staff,” Mr. Ramsay was quoted as saying but the official Ceres Web site.
Apart from winning the PFL title, Ceres earned a spot in the AFC Champions League 2018 preliminary stage and will face Myanmar’s national league champion Shan United on Jan. 16.
Officially opened in May, the PFL is planned and organized by the Philippine Football Federation with help from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the International Football Federation (FIFA).
The PFL, organizers said, is another step in taking the growth of the sport of football in the country to another plane.
