Digicel Cup match between Isou, Central Dabaris draw

THE battle of the Southern Region ended in an 18-18 stalemate between the PRK Gulf Isou and Central Dabaris.
Dabaris halfback Allan Simbiri landed a sideline conversion to draw the Round 11 Digicel Cup fixture at the National Football Stadium.
Isou led 18-12 with minutes remaining and should have closed out the game but Dabaris five-eighth Junior and Simbiri combined to work a left edge move to send Makara Hura over for a try against a 12-man Gulf outfit after fullback Josh Erico was sin-binned.
Hura, who had scored earlier in the half, had enough pace and power to crash over in the corner.
The Dabaris also had a man sin-binned with the Isou also taking advantage of the numerical advantage with Erico himself grabbing a four-pointer.
Both captains Adam Korave (Dabaris) and Moore Evara (Isou) had exchanges with the referee which held up play throughout the game.
There was also confrontation between several players.
Isou coach Norris Selu said errors at crucial moments and poor defence in the dying stages saw them miss out on the win.
“We had the game going into that last five minutes but our defence let us down. We slackened off a little bit and they scored a couple of late tries,” Selu said.
Dabaris coach Chris Enara said despite drawing the match he was pleased with the way his side fought back after trailing at halftime.
“Our first timers played very well against an experience opposition side,” Enara said. “We had a good second half after trailing 8-2 at the break.”
Central Dabaris 18 (Makara Hura 2, Tommy Moide tries; Allan Simbiri 3 con) Gulf Isou 18 (Josh Erico 2, Roa Maino Gairo, Ray Watt Vincent tries; Yunny Patrick con). Results: Rd 11 – Sun, June 16: Dabaris 18 Isou 18, Gurias 6 Tigers 10, Lahanis 20 Muruks 10, Eagles 28 Cutters 22, Vipers 12 Mioks 12, Tumbe 18 Wigmen 8.