By HENRY MORABANG
MAROONS capitalised on the costly errors to defeat Blues 8-6 in the opening 2007 Morata State of Origin series on Sunday at the Kone Tigers Oval in Port Moresby.
The series is the best of three series which have propelled Maroons into 1-nil.
Played in front of capacity crowd, Maroons made use of the absence of Blues SP Cup players such as Joshua Poria, Joshua Lapa, Jeffrey Wesley and Kevin Kepas, outclassed Blues with their football skills.
The game seasawed for a while before a backline player James Kapi scored the first converted try to lead 6-0.
Led by barnstorming prop forward Jethro Cii, Maroons were all over the paddock against the Blues. In the backline, centre Albert Kamani and Samson Eki ñ the younger brother of Kumul Eki Ene stood out in attack and defense.
Cii played an inspirational role up front and was assisted by Iawari Rodney, Robert Joe and the impact player Lax Metta from the bench. Metta also made impact as interchange player for the Maroons.
Blues coach Yanga Harupa admitted that his side lost because of too many fundamental errors caused by his players.
He said he will work on that during the next two weeks the second State of Origin on Dec 9.
Harupa will recall his big guns in Poria, Lapa, Kepas and Wesley to beef up his attack against the Maroons. With the inclusion of these players, he warned the opposite teams that they are in for trouble.
ìThe boys really missed their services as they were not included because they havenít playing the club games for inclusion in the first team,î he said.
President of Morata Rugby League Billy Yaki commended the behaviour of the crowd throughout the match.
He appealed the supporters of both Maroons and Blues to keep the spirit and support their team in good sportsmanship behavior. He said was convinced last Sunday that Morata supporters are good supporters.