Clash ends in draw

By ROBINSON LEKA
Vitiaz United and Hekari United on Saturday ended their round-14 clash of the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League with a 1-1 draw at Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Saturday.
The return of Hekari veteran Koriak Upaiga on the flanks along with skipper Michael Foster provided room for Hekari forwards Raymond Gunemba and Nigel Dabinyaba to move in the opening minutes.
But solid defence, led by Vitiaz’s Rodney Talau, denied several attempts on goal by Hekari.
Vitiaz breached Hekari’s defence 20 minutes in, with skipper Eliud Fugre and forward Mathew David paving the way for striker Johnathan Allan to score.
Hekari responded 10 minutes later with Foster heading in an equaliser from a David Muta penalty kick, closing the scores for the first half and the match.
Gunemba made an early exit in the second half due to a back injury with the match spinning into a tug of war with neither side unable to score.
“We had a lot of chances but we didn’t take them,” Hekari manager Vonnie Kapi Natto said.
“Both teams are very good teams and I’m still proud of my players.
“A draw is still good for us, we’re still two points behind them (Vitiaz) and hopefully we can work hard in our other games.”