For the first time in the competition’s ten-years of existence, the final didn’t feature super club Hekari United, but instead two Momase teams who played out the final at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae.
The goal-less first half was dominated by Madang but the men from the north couldn’t turn the possession they enjoyed into a goal.
Part of that could be attributed to Lae goalkeeper Ronald Warisan, who was kept on his toes throughout the opening 45 minutes, and did a fine job of denying his side’s opponents.
Lae coach Peter Gunemba was mindful of the need to keep his players on track who he had working hard to dampen the enthusiam of their opposition.
The break finally came in the opening five minutes of the second half when Lee Wabing tapped in a cross to the delight of his teammates.
Madang strikr Vanya Malagian replied just five minutes later when he gathered a deflection and put it past Warisan.
Nigel Dabinyaba managed to beat through the Madang defence to pull his side back into the lead in the 72nd minute before a perfectly curled corner from captain Raymond Gunemba was headed down by Obert Bika to make it three.
It was a fitting reward for Bika who was plucked from obscurity last year to be part of the newly-created Lae franchise.
Lae then put the icing on their strong second half with a clever Gunemba chip that left Madang keeper Leahan Manase stranded outside the box.
Lae midfielder Ken Tepe was named man-of-the-match and was presented K250, while Nigel Dabinyaba claimed the Golden Boot and its K5000 prize with his competition haul of 11 goals.
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