Asi Duah claim title

By LARRY ANDREW
ASI DUAH claimed their first title after beating Poroman 3-0 in the men’s grand final of the Lae City Hockey Association competition on Sunday.
In the women’s division, Sandpiper also won their first title after defeating Poromeri 4-3 in their third grand-final attempt.
In the men’s grand final, newcomers Asi Duah had a tight game against an in-form Poroman outfit.
Poroman, made up of mostly young players, relied on the services of Emmanuel Perry, Kemas Elisha and Garfield Polly.
The youngsters had several scoring opportunities but could not find the mark as Asi Duah’s back three of William Bon Jr, Shane and Patrick Paine were solid in defence.
With the game in the balance, Asi Duah’s Richard Bon found space to slot the ball past Poroman goalkeeper Julius Raoma for a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.
The goal sparked Asi Duah as they began to dominate the game.
At the resumption of the second half, Poroman came out firing to keeping play in Asi Duah’s territory with Perry taking control of the midfield.
But their efforts to score goals were denied time and again.
Asi Duah, banking on the experience of John Hebei, Kimmins Hebei and Richard Bon in the forwards, scored their second goal to give themselves some breathing space.
Hebei was on target as Asi Duah began to pull ahead.
His effort was then followed up with a third goal as Asi Duah closed out the win.
In the women’s division, traditional rivals Poromeri and Sandpipers played out a tough encounter.
Sandpipers, boosted by the presence of Papua New Guinea representatives in Kari Raurela, Caroline Mulina and Alice Fred, provided the pace for sisters Symone and Kymora Kaisa to threaten the opposition.
Poromeri’s mother-daughter combination of Jessica and Vanessa Perry led the way for their side who fought till the final whistle.
However, they fell short by a mere point as Sandpiper went on to seal the win and claim their maiden crown.