Capital city sides rule

 By PETER SEVARA Jr

IN A festive weekend of touch football at the Murray Barracks oval, Port Moresby teams Team Central “Centa” and Corporate Touch Port Moresby (CTPM) and Port Moresby National Capital Touch (POMNCD) and Port Moresby Industrial Touch Association (PITA) overthrew their opponents to claim the spoils.

In the Under-19 cup decider, Lae Corporate Touch and Centa matched each other with power rucks but as fatigue set in the boys started playing rings around each other.

They drew 2-2 in the first half but Centa came in strong in the second, scoring a try on the wings. 

Lae levelled the scores with a sneaky passing game but Centa broke through the ranks, with speed making the difference between the teams.

In the other events in the Open Men’s, Centa beat champions CTPM to claim the prize 7-6, in the Women’s Open, PITA defeated Centa 4-3, Open Mix Oro Team Higaturu defeated Kavieng Team, Estika 3-1, in the Senior Men’s, Centa defeated CTPM 4-3, Senior Women’s, CTPM defeated Lae Corp 6-4 and the Masters was claimed by the founders of touch in Port Moresby, POM NCD led by captain Augustine Aisi, to overcome worthy opponents from Madang. 

The trophies were presented to each division finalists after the U19 finals, with organisers thanking participants from Oro, Kavieng, Gulf, Madang and Lae for taking part in the tournament.

But the sport did not go without its fair share of disputes throughout the weekend but true sportsmanship.