Cats edge Kokofas 34-31 in Port Moresby AFL thriller

Sports

By PARKER TAMBUA
CATS recorded their fifth A-grade win of the Port Moresby Australian Football League season after they edged Kokofas 34-31 in their round-six match at the Colts Oval on Sunday.
Despite the Kokofas starting strongly with an 18-7 lead in the first quarter, they dropped off deep in the match which allowed Cats to claw their way back to claim victory.
Willie Norman, Emmanuel Michael and Sydney Pits starred in the win with a goal each.
Cats coach Joe Maggio told The National after the game that his men had improved from their previous games.
“Fitness had been a concern in the first five weeks of the season,” he said.
“But I think we improved in this game. We started poorly in the first quarter, but my players always have that fighting spirit.
“They showed that and competed till fulltime to win the game by just three points.
“It’s great to see a lot of improvements, but there is still a lot of work to be done during training to improve our performance for the remainder of the season.”
Trailing by 11 points at first quarter, Cats turned the momentum around in the second quarter when they kicked a goal and four behinds, all unanswered, to close the margin at 17-18 at half-time.
Despite the breeze being behind Kokofas in the third quarter, they scored only two goals while Cats scored a goal and four behinds.
Kokofas led 30-27 in the third quarter, but Cats’ persistent attack in the final quarter was enough to steal the match with a goal and a behind while Kokofas only scored a behind during their fixture on Sunday.