B’ville upset Vitiaz

By ROBINSON LEKA
BERNARD Purari helped Bougainville pull off a 1-0 upset over Vitiaz United in round 16 of the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League in Port Moresby on Saturday.
The win at Papua New Guinea Football Stadium saw Bougainville move up one spot to fifth while Vitiaz dropped a place to third after Hekari beat Morobe Wawens 2-1 to move up to second.
Vitiaz strikers Mathew David and Johnathan Allen stepped up in the second half but Bougainville’s Elijah Potua and Gebby Yanum thwarted their attempts to see out the win.
Bougainville head coach David Passam commended their solid defence after Purari’s first-half winner.
“We’re happy with the win,” he said.
“We’ve concentrated on defence and it’s our defence that won us the game.
“Our plan was to work them from the flanks and the ball that led to our goal came from the flanks so we’re happy that worked out for us.
“We were under enormous pressure in the second half and we couldn’t get out of our side.
“But I’m happy that we tightened our defence and pulled off the upset.
“We had a few players carrying injuries into the game but I’m hoping they make a full recovery going into our remaining matches of the regular season.”
Results: Sat, Sept 12 – Vitiaz 0 Bougainville 1, Morobe United 1 Lae City 1, Hekari United 2 Morobe Wawens 1, Kutubu 3 Star Mountain 4, Gulf Komara 1 Tusbab Stallions 2