Brothers seek first title

 By HENRY MORABANG

UNITED Brothers have the talent to push defending champions PNG Power to the limit in the Port Moresby Softball League final at the Bisini Softball Diamond tomorrow.

Brothers coach Tony Daple said his charges had prepared as best they could for the final.

“We respect PNG Power due to the fact that they have been there before. But we will push them all the way; we want to win our first premiership after four years of existence in the best softball competition in the country,” Daple said.

He said the focus during the week had been on batting as he thought this area would make or break the side in the later innings. 

Daple said he was confident his side had the quality to match Power and it would come down to which team held their nerve in the middle and latter stages of the final. 

Brothers are hungry for a title, being a new team in the city competition. 

If they can maintain their composure in batting and tight fielding, accompanied with the hunger for the title, Daple and his charges could have a last laugh at the end of the seventh inning.

PNG Power were prepared to face the tough challenge tomorrow. Senior players Dimitrius Wosley and Isikel Tovia Jnr admitted their batting in the regular season has been sub-standard and they needed be more consistent. 

“We are ready for this game. Even though our batting hasn’t been great, we’ve still managed to win games,” Tovia said.

Wosley said the only game that mattered now, the final, was the one they needed their batting to shine for, with the title at stake. 

“We’ve looked at our batting as an area that needs to step up while our errors have to be minimised to give us a chance. We need to improve on those two areas if we want the title,” Wolsey.  

Brothers will be banking on big hitters Dick Bart Jnr, Raymond Diou, Gerald Ponakau, Goodwill Baia and Dwayne Chan to take their chances while Power pitcher Daniel Tovia and catcher Isikel Jnr will do what they have been doing all season to contain them.

They have their own hitters in Demas Tovia, Wosley, Eddie Simba, Michael Parom, Steven Polum and Pidil Pakar and will be counting on this list to find some form tomorrow.