Eagles Tee-ed off by Rangers

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JEFFREY ELAPA

A BRILLIANT game from Masta Mak City Rangers’ boom centre Ham Tee led his team to a thrilling 22-12 win over Bintangor Eagles at Ron Albert Oval in Madang on Sunday.
Tee bagged a double and had a hand in another of his team’s four tries capping off a dominant display by the Kumul three-quarter.
The game was also witnessed by general manager of James Barnes canners and former president of Fiji Rugby League Culden Kamea, who was also given the honour to kick off the game.
The Rangers were the first to score when Tee intercepted a poor pass to take the early lead 6-0 with Benjamin Thomben adding the extras.
Minutes later Thomben was sin-binned by referee Paul Poka for a dangerous tackle leaving the Rangers a man down.
Eagles got on the scoreboard through hardworking forward Benny Pamunda for a deadlocked half-time score of 6-6.
In the second-half Eagle’s David Rombuk was also sin-binned for another illegal tackle.
Midway through the second stanza Tee stamped his class on the match with his second try of the day earning a 12-6 lead for the Rangers.
But at the 60th minute mark, Eagles reserve Jovi Seki got his team back in the match when he sprinted  70m to level the scores 12-12.
Referee Poka, who did not tolerate anything dangerous, sin-binned Eagles lock Sent Angra for a high tackle.
With the Eagles down with a player, the Rangers capitalised and sent reserve forward Aaron Mulunga crashing over the line to extend Ranger’s score to 18-12.
Tee stepped through several Eagles and out-paced the cover defence for more than 60m before off-loading to Thomben to score and seal the match with a 22-12 scoreline.
Both teams enjoyed good crowd support and on full time, Tee, who was also awarded the man-of-the-match, was then carried around the oval by jubilant supporters.
Meanwhile, franchise owner Kelly Aiyok, who was with the team, said although the Rangers did not perform as expected he was happy they won the game.
He said the humid conditions in Madang was one reason why his boys did not put up their normal game but he was satisfied they became the winner which would help them to maintain their spot on the ladder.
When asked about the support, he said he knew well before coming that there was going to be enough support in Madang and he was not surprised.
He said he hoped some more games would be hosted in the next season as Madang had the facilities and the crowd.