Cats to come out firing against Gordon Kokofas

Sports

THE Sun City Cats appear to have the wood on the Gordon Kokofas heading into their Port Moresby Esi Loan AFL Premiership elimination final at the Colts Oval tomorrow.
With a 2-0 win/loss record against the Kokofas, the Cats are sure to come out firing as they look to send the Gordon side crashing out of the finals.
The Cats will miss the services of fleet-footed Kelly Kaugla who is competing at an AFL tournament with the PNG Muruks in Malaysia this weekend.
Cats coach Colin Spenser knows that Kaugla’s shoes will be hard to fill but he should find some reliability in captain Jackson Nawi, John Susuve, Manu Michael, Gregory Molen, Shane Jacob, Gerard Fungke and Leroy Shawalega to maintain order in the game.
Stiff opposition for the Cats should come from Bena Michael, David Yogomin, John Vincent, Unapo Yogomin, Neil Malabag, Xavier Francis and Yatom Werner to keep the Kokofas in the contest.
The last time the two sides met in the finals was in 2016 with the Kokofas beating the Cats in the grand final to claim the premiership.
The Bismarck Maritime West Eagles have the week off as they await the winners of Sunday’s minor semifinal between 2017 premiers Dockers and defending champions Koboni. Koboni will rely heavily on PNG Mosquitoes stars Alphonse Jambarufo, Douglas Lai Jr, Paul Philip, Brendan Beno, Amua Pirika, Stanis Susuve and Michael Macca to lead the way.
The Dockers will bank on Emmanuel Tupia, Laurie Logo, Archie Mai Jr, Colin Slim, Desmond Kaumu, Hosea Wartovo, Wesley Yuwi and youngsters Luke Savere Jr, Ignatius Roka and Jason Logi.
The West Eagles finished the regular season in pole spot followed by the Dockers, Koboni, Cats and the Kokofas.
Meanwhile, the reserve-grade minor semifinal on Sunday will be between the Kokofas and Dockers. The West Eagles and North Waigani Royals Tiger clash in tomorrow’s do-or-die encounter. Minor premiers Cats are on a bye.
The reserve-grade matches start at 12pm and the senior fixtures begin at 2pm on both days.