Aroma Coast officials unhappy with last-minute decision for final

THE last-minute disqualification of the Aroma Coast from taking part in the division one grand final of the Port Moresby netball competition this weekend has not gone down well with the club’s executives.
Coach Geno Tae branded the decision by Port Moresby Netball Association (POMNA) match committee as “very frustrating” for a village club taking part in the city competition.
The POMNA match committee ruled that Aroma Coast fielded an unregistered player, however, Tae said the player concerned, Iubu Vele was a registered player and had played more than four matches to qualify for the final.
Tae was also disappointed that the news of their disqualification was received through a third party and not given to her directly.
“The match committee should deal with me rather than sending an email to my players who are a third party to the whole issue,” Tae said.
A fuming Tae said, “I am the coach and why not deal with me instead of through a third party which was one of my players. Where is the protocol in this?”
Vele was part of Aroma Coast team which defeated Poinimo 22-20 in the preliminary final last Sunday.
Aroma Coast finished the season in fifth spot and fought their way to the grand final only to be told that they had being disqualified for fielding an unregistered player.
Tae said she was not backing down from the POMNA executive and match committee decision and would turn up to play the grand final with Mermaids on the weekend at the Rita Flynn courts.
“The reasons given by match  the committee really frustrated the hard work the club has put in leading to the grand final. It is really frustrating,” Tae said.
“We want to prove that the games are won on the court not off the court. Aroma Coast have become the victim of some inconsistent rulings by the netball association. The club lost its top tier position to Raukele under the new competition structure,” a disappointed Tae said.