PORT MORESBY – Tuguba Laitepo Morobe Kumuls continued its superb form in the Telikom National Soccer League as Ronial Igins scored a double in a 3-0 win over Inspac Rapatona on
Saturday in Port Moresby.
Ronial was the star of the day – frequently sneaking in with his deadly strikes and repeatedly breaching Rapatona’s defence which saw him slotting one goal in the first half and
another in the second while Armstrong Peka added a third.
With Port Moresby experiencing heavy rains for a week, the conditions were muddy and made it hard for players to produce a captivating spectacle but the football on show suggests the
Telikom NSL Cup will be a closely contested and fascinating competition in its second year.
However Blue Kumuls power-laden peformance made it look as if there were not any muddy conditions.
Kumuls’ display of ball control and exceptional play in the midfield and defence had Rapatona struggling for long periods of time.
Midfielders Ken Gule and Sower Guti were remarkable in their ball distribution and probed Rapatona with acute passes that cut their defence to ribbons.
This led to Kumul’s first goal where Gule and Guti had a pass each before finding Igins on the left flank who outpaced two Rapatona defenders and squeezed the ball past goalkeeper
Tapas Posman.
The Kumuls fans went into a frenzy at the sheer quality of the goal – and there would be more to come.
Clifford Wate was also dangerous and nearly scored a goal from the corner. His shot forced Posman to dive low to his left to make a top save.
Guti had the chance to increase the lead but his shot ballooned into the air and over the goalmouth.
Rapatona midfielder Clinton Caleb worked overtime and tried using the flanks through Kialu Pouru but there was little success as Kumuls defenders Cyril Muta, Rodney Taliau, Gorobe
Tawa kept Percy Mataio at bay.
Kumuls’ variation in attack saw Peka scoring a brilliant goal after a superb build-up from the flanks. Substitute flanker Michael Foster outpaced several Rapatona players before
driving the ball near the box. Posman came scrambling out but Foster chipped over him to find Watte who casually went for a soft touch but the ball rolled wide of the mark. Luckily Peka came
dashing in to finish off their build-up to lead 2-0.
Posman also pulled off some remarkable stops to save Rapatona’s face. Posman saved a penalty diving to his left earlier on. However his efforts failed to help Rapatona who were
outplayed and outsmarted by the Lae boys.
Igins scored his second with a powerful header from a cornerkick five minutes from fulltime. In other matches Gelle Hills thrashed Madang Fox 5-1 and Besta Madang held off Hekari
United 4-4 in an eight goal thriller.
Story and photograph courtesy PNGFA Media Officer Thomas Kambi