Dwellers get K1m

NATIONAL Soccer League champions Lae City Dwellers received a substantial boost to their 2017 season with the Morobe provincial government giving the club K1 million.
Morobe Governor Kelly Naru allocated the funds to help the club in its NSL and Oceania Football Confederation Champions League commitments.
Last Friday Naru, who is also the Dwellers patron, presented the club with a dummy cheque of K1m and the first installment of K300,000.
The provincial government committed the same amount for last year’s campaign which saw the Peter Gunemba-coached outfit defend their title.
The money will assist the Lae City team travel to Fiji for two friendly matches before heading to Auckland, New Zealand, for the OFC Champions League.
The funding source of this sponsorship was taken from the Naru’s provincial services improvement programme for this year, the Governor’s Office and provincial government’s church partnership programme.
“On this occasion, I am pleased to announce the sponsorship of K1 million to the Lae City Dwellers for the second year in a row,” Naru, pictured, said.
“I appeal to them to maintain consistency and to play to the best of their abilities and be good ambassadors of Morobe and Papua New Guinea on and off the field.”
“We are satisfied that the sponsorship last year was an investment in our youths, who made the people of Morobe and this country proud by retaining the NSL title and setting a high standard at the OFC Champions League,” he said.
The out-spoken governor said during the presentation that the government of Morobe’s support of K1m to the club was based on a “Christ in Football Ministry” theme which mirrored the code of ethics, discipline and standards set by players themselves and management.
“Our sponsorship last year to National Soccer League resulted in a high level performance by our players in the Oceania Cup held last year in Port Moresby where 13 of the 16 goals scored by the PNG Kapuls were contributed by Lae City players namely Raymond Gunemba (5), Nigel Dabinyaba (4) and Michael Forster (4).
“These three players are now playing overseas in  New Zealand, Malaysia and Solomon Islands,” Naru said.