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Sports |
Muruks go down to the 'dogs
By MUSARIKE ANANGAI
The Brian Bell Bulldogs came back
from a six-point deficit with less than 15 minutes remaining to
defeat defending champions Mabey Johnson Muruks in round one of
the SP Cup in Port Moresby yesterday.
In the other matches played around the country, the Lahanis 28
beat Gurias 18 (Kokopo), Warriors 30 beat Bombers 12 (Lae) while
new boys Eagles played out a 7-all draw with the Mioks at Kagamuga.
Replacement hooker and man of the match Benjamin John proved to be
the match winner with one try, three goals and a field goal to
enable the Port Moresby side win 19-12.
Both sides scored three tries each but the Muruks failed to
convert each of their tries.
Replacement forward Suckling Danage was the pick of the Bulldogs
forwards with several barnstorming runs in the second half
assisted by skipper Thomas Ninkama.
In the absence of play maker Stanley Hondina, Joseph Omai led the
Muruks with his trademark sidesteps and sneaky off-loads.
There were a lot of errors early and the crowd had to wait until
the 21st minute to see the first try.
Muruks lock Malachy Owen floated a long pass to an unmarked Samuel
Nap who ran down the left touchline before putting in a deft
little kick back infield for Sova Milfred to scoop up and score
between the posts.
After the Muruks were penalised for stripping the ball close to
halfway, John and Joshua Poria gained valuable metres up field
through dummy half runs before John dived over again from dummy
half.
After Bulldogs halfback Brian Apo was penalised for obstruction
close to halftime, the Muruks started their attack in good field
territory and a few tackles later halfback Rodrick Puname combined
with Felix Tangue to send sneaky winger Terry Toa over in the
right corner to reclaim the lead.
Nine minutes into the second half the Muruks scored their third
unconverted try when Johnie Toank dummied his way over after
catching the markers off guard.
Several errors by the Muruks allowed the Bulldogs to mount attacks
at their line and their perseverance eventually paid off in the
69th minute when Burau reached high to catch a Jessie Joe cut out
pass then set up bone crunching defender Lazen Marabe who dived
over inches from the left dead-ball line.
Amid the cheers and the jeers of the crowd, John calmly leveled
the match 12-all with his sideline conversion.
At the back of two penalties following the play restart, John put
the Bulldogs in front with a penalty goal from 30 metres out.
Minutes later he kicked a field goal to give the Bulldogs a three
point buffer.
Seconds from fulltime lock Johnson Kuike busted the Muruks from
halfway before linking up with Burau in support for the last try.
The points table after round one sees the Warriors, Lahanis,
Bulldogs, and the Raiders on two points, 1 point: Mioks and Eagles
while the rest are on zero.
 
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