Dwellers start title defence against Madang

By ISAAC LIRI

National Soccer League champions Lae City Dwellers are set to start their campaign defending their title when they face hosts Madang FC tomorrow at Laiwaden Oval, coach Peter Gunemba says.
Although having depth in his side with three PNG representatives (Kapuls), striker Raymond Gunemba, midfielder Emmanuel Simon and goal-keeper Ronald Warisan, the Morobean coach is still wary of the Madang side at home.
“Madang is a competitive team made up of good players and they will have the home crowd backing them up this weekend so we know it will be a tough game.
“Our objective is to defend the title so if we win in Madang this weekend, we will be in a good position to defend our title.
“We trained well over the last couple of months for this competition and we are all fired-up to play the best form of football we can.”
Gunemba said a 20-man travelling side would be announced today before they travel by road to Madang.
“We are planning on taking 20 players up to Madang this weekend for the game but we are also considering our reserve players too in case anything happens in terms of injuries while we are there in Madang,” Gunemba said.
He appealed to the other five franchises taking part in the NSL to play fair, with the key elements of good sportsmanship.
“We have past experiences of hostile crowds so I just want all teams and their supporters to be fair because in any sport, you have a winner and a loser.