A lack of discipline the reason for loss: Tepend

LAE Tigers coach Stanley Tepend blamed ill-discipline for their shock 16-20 Digicel Cup loss to Port Moresby Vipers at the Oil Search National Football Stadium on Sunday.
The Lae Biscuit Company-sponsored 2019 champions lost winger Anderson Benford, five-eighth Jerry Teme and centre Roderick Tai to sin bins at different stages of the game. Tai and Benford were punished for dangerous contact while Teme was binned for disputing a refereeing decision.
“I think we let ourselves down,” Papua New Guinea Kumuls legend Tepend said after the round-seven match.
“You can’t win games with multiple sin bins.
“We had players binned on three occasions, so we were down to 12 men for 30 minutes.
“So discipline is one of the things that we really need to work on going forward.”
But taking nothing away from the Vipers’ win, Tepend hailed the Moni Plus-sponsored hosts as the better side on the day.
“The Vipers deserved the win,” he said. “They were hungrier for the win, so full credit to them for their efforts.”
Meanwhile, the former playmaker was full of praise for his Fijian prop Tikiko Noke.
“He played really well and I was impressed with his game,” Tepend said.
“He tried really hard to lift the side when we were on the back foot, but it’s a team sport and he had no support.“We’ll just go back to training and work harder for our next match.
“It’s a tough competition, so you win some and lose some.
“Our next match is against Rabaul Gurias in Lae, so we’re keen to bounce back from the loss.”
The Tigers still lead the 12-team ladder on points difference ahead of second-placed Mendi Muruks.