ILOILO CITY – Smart Bro Mobile Stallion Football Club of Barotac Nuevo bucked an early lapse before whipping Laos FC of Leyte, 6-1, last Thursday to capture the all-Visayas regional crown of the Smart Club Championships at the Central Philippines University football field here.

After  yielding an own goal in the third  minute when goalie Louie Jay Sobrevega  bungled a back pass by teammate Tommy Escoltero, the hosts, led by Ruben Doctora Jr.’s hat trick, played like a team possessed and dominated the rest of the way to complete a two-game sweep of the three-club tourney.

Sorely missing Nigerian striker Ogwejiofor Cusmas, who was  suspended one game after being red-carded in their 4-1 win over Don Bosco United A of Cebu last Wednesday, the Leyte booters  still earned the second slot into the next round behind Stallion in the Smart-sponsored competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation.

“We started a bit slow after that early error and I shifted our attacks from the right to the left wing,” said Stallion coach Ernie Nierras. “But we still have a lot of  work to do on our skills, strength and endurance in preparation for the next phase of the event.”

Nierras said by then he expects some of his other team members, including 21-year-old striker Wilson Muñoz, who is currently playing for Iloilo in the Under-23 Suzuki Cup,  to be back in harness for the tougher battles ahead.

Doctora, who saw action for the nationals in the 2008 Asian Challenge Cup qualifying tourney held in Iloilo, ended the Ilonggos’ anxieties in the 19th minute by  getting a cross pass from the right flank to blast in a 10-yarder, the ball caroming off the goal post and into the net.