Dogs zero in to win Agmark Cup
By ELIZABETH VUVU
ZERO Dogs, spurred by Guria players Chris Purkikil and Hobert Hondole defeated RENB Wanderers 8-6 to claim the NGIP Agmark Cup in Kokopo at the weekend.
In doing so, Purkikil and Hondole may certainly have turned Guria selectorsí heads who use the NGIP Agmark Corporate Nines as a pre-selection competition for the Guria team.
Purkikil opened up the scoreboard with a try in the dying minutes of the first half after Hondole barged through some half-hearted defence near the try-line.
The defence had only started to crack after continuous bombardment by Hondole, the Otto brothers, Ronnie and Willie, and Jeffrey Kunai which enabled five-eighth Junior Tomi to send Purkikil in for the first try. Ronnie failed to add two extra points.
Victory did not come easy for a team that had been leading the inaugural competition for the past eight weeks.
Wanderers led by Guria duo Moab Kivung and Daple Dude displayed a different ball game on the day that may have surprised the Dogs who have been leading the competition since day one.
Wanderers, coached by Terry Longbut, had the Dogs cornered in every department in a tantalising show of football.
They almost drew first blood minutes into the match when a player failed to ground the ball after being held. A try would have certainly would have decided the fate of the Dogs.
Ten minutes into the second half, centre Alfred Russiat received a pass from Kunai and ran through some exhausted defense to cross the line and put the score at 8-0. Ronnie again failed to kick for two points.
Four minutes after, Wanderers replied with a try from Kivung which was successfully converted by Daple to leave the score at 6-8.
The Dogs went home with K1,500 for their efforts while the Wanderers received K1,000.
Meanwhile, NGIP Agmark Ltd general manager John Nightingale, major sponsor of the competition, has challenged other companies in the province to support rugby league in the ENB as it was one of the best sport in the country.
In other awards, Purkikil who was named man and of the match and received the Nightingale Award and K100 cash from the Chairman of the ENB sports development authority, Ron Seeto.
Sports Stories