Eagles shock Gurias

By MICHAEL PHILIP
MT HAGEN Eagles continue their winning form in round three of the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup, thumping Rabaul Gurias 22-14 to the delight of an entertaining crowd at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby yesterday.
Gurias’ late surge with two tries in the final 10 minutes did little to reverse the margin and succumb to the Eagles, who so far have registered two wins and a draw.
There was no reservation for Eagles head coach Francis Ray, who coached the Agmark-sponsored Gurias last year, who knew exactly where to attack his former side and kept the Gurias scoreless for about 70 minutes of the match.
“They’re a tough side and we planned to give them a good game today and the result is what we wanted,” Ray said.
“There are a few areas that we lacked which we’ll have them fixed during the week.”
Eagles wasted no time with electric fullback Wingti Raima registering their first four pointer with a failed attempt at conversion by Israel Balio to lead the Gurias 4-0 minutes into the first half.
A faltering Gurias defence paved the way for Eagles winger Lynchill Kiap to slide over the sideline for their second try with halfback Milex Winis slotting the two points to lead 10-0.
Winis later added another two points after the Gurias were penalised for a delayed tackle, taking a 12-0 lead into halftime.
The Eagles kept soaring high in the second half with two tries from centre Wari Rex and winger Brandon Balio with Winis helping to convert one try to further lead Gurias 22-0.
The last 10 minutes were dominated by the Gurias who scored their first four points through winger Dominic Anis Jnr with halfback Mark Alunga failing to add the extras to trail 4-22.
Gurias’ fast play in the middle third ensured second rower Simon Johnson scored a converted try to trail 10-22, before winger Chris Benjamin crossed over for a final try to seal the match 14-22 in favour of the Eagles.