Selwyn Mamon led the charge with his five goals as 10-time defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman blanked Ateneo de Manila University, 6-0, to book an 11th straight final appearance in the UAAP High School Boys’ Football Tournament, Sunday at the UP Diliman Football Field.
The Baby Tamaraws have yet to miss a finale since Season 73.
Mamon, who has been a standout player this season, scored an incredible five goals in the game, showcasing his immense potential.
The first goal came early in the 9th minute, setting the tone for the rest of the match.
Mamon’s excellent form continued throughout the game, with goals coming in the 14th, 46th, 52nd, and 53rd minutes.
“He has a really big potential,” said FEU coach Vince Santos on Mamon, who has upped his tally to nine goals.
“He arrived not used to our system but has adjusted really well and it’s showing now,” he continued about the 18-year-old out of Iloilo City.
Leonen Gatungay scored the Baby Tamaraws’ other goal in the 46th minute of the game as FEU made a rousing start to the second phase of the elimination round.
FEU-D has yet to taste a loss since a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Ateneo during the last elimination round game of Season 81 back in 2019.
Despite the big margin of victory, Santos noted that the Baby Tamaraws’ bench players needed to do better during the remaining matches this season.
“We could have played better in the second half,” he said. “We gave chances to a lot of the younger players. Maybe this was their time to adjust, but for the first group I think we did alright.
“More consistency and then hopefully the rest of the team can keep the game idea when they’re given a chance,” he added.
The results also meant that the Blue Eagles have been eliminated from postseason contention as they still have yet to put up a point in the table with a minus-18 goal differential.
Later in the day, Jian Caraig notched a brace to carry De La Salle Zobel past University of Santo Tomas 3-1 to strengthen its push for a finals ticket.
The Junior Archers earned a two-goal lead just before the halftime break thanks to strikes from Caraig and Alonso Aguilar in the 4th and 22nd minutes respectively.
“They played better now after the first match against UST,” said La Salle mentor Hans-Peter Smit. “They had more grit today and they knew that it was a must-win game today. If we wanted to go to the finals, this is the must-win because UST is the closest rival to our chance of going to the finals.”
Tensions boiled in the second half.
The Junior Golden Booters — incensed at a non-call that would have given them a penalty — surrounded the referee. UST assistant coach David Basa then received a yellow card for complaining to the officials.
It fired up UST as it pulled a goal back.
Dominic Tom took advantage of a defensive miscue from La Salle to give his side hope in the 66th minute of the match.
However, that was all for naught as Caraig scored again in the 70th minute to restore the Junior Archers’ two-goal advantage and seal the win.
La Salle, who is in second place in the table with six points with a plus-3 GD, can seal a place in the final if it can at least earn a draw against archrival Ateneo next week.
“We’ll go for the win because of the momentum,” added Smit. “I’d like to believe that we’re gonna be playing FEU two straight — last game of the second round plus the finals. We just need to win against Ateneo. Doesn’t matter about the score. We just need to win.”
UST is third with three points with a plus-1 GD.
