Desire, key to victory: Simon

By ROBINSON LEKA and PARKER TAMBUA
TOMORROW’S Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League grand final between Lae City and Vitiaz United in Port Moresby (7pm kick-off) will come down to who wants the title more, says visiting skipper Emmanuel Simon.
Simon told The National on Wednesday that there was not much difference between the two finalists with City recording a loss and a draw against Vitiaz this season.
“Since both sides are familiar with each other, we will be concentrating on our respective game plans and how to execute them,” he said.
“It will be a challenging game and we know Vitiaz individually so it will come down to who is hungrier for the title.
“It will be about who makes the right decisions on the field.
“The first 11 who take the field will have to be confident with the ball.
“We must also make sure that all our passes are accurate in order to create scoring opportunities.
“We’re always happy to come to Moresby because there’s always a good turnout from our Lae supporters.
“But we won’t let that distract us — we want to focus on the game.”
City coach Bob Morris said his side were given tough challenges by other NSL teams which had pushed them to strengthen their defence.
“Since the competition resumed after the Covid-19 break, we had some big wins,” he said.
“But going towards the finals, we faced some tough challenges.
“We’ve been kept under pressure in the two games leading up to the finals which was expected.
“Those challenges have helped us strengthen our defence and we’d like to carry that into this game.”
Simon and will be joined by fellow midfielder Jacob Sabua and the duo were expected to pull strings for forwards Obert Bika and Abdias Aguirre.
Meanwhile, an elated Vitiaz skipper Eliud Fugre has welcomed the challenge against City with the Port Moresby side keen on snatching the title in their rookie season.
Vitiaz will be missing the services of key defender Rodney Talau after he was handed a red card in their semifinal against Hekari United.
But Fugre and young midfielder Yagi Yasasa will be looking to put their side on the front foot with Jonathan Allen and Mathew David in attack.
“We’re going to give everything in the game and we hope to give City a good challenge,” Fugre said.