Eastern Stars, Gulf Komara get off the mark with victories

Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
THE Eastern Stars and Gulf Komara registered their first wins in the National Soccer League Southern Conference at the Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Saturday.
The Stars beat Star Mountain 2-1 and Gulf defeated Bougainville 1-0 in what was described as matches that could have gone either way.
The Stars and Komara put in a lot of extra work at training which resulted in both sides coming away with wins.
It was a relief for the Stars after coming out winless in the last two rounds.
The Stars seemed attentive in all areas of their game and despite Star Mountain giving them a good run for their money, the Anthony Pakatoka-coached side held on for the win.
Tau Winnie scored the opener for the Stars after some good ball work by Alotau import Bernard Brian in the 15th minute. Star Mountain wasted no time in replying to send both sides to the sheds with a goal each.
The tight contest continued in the second half but the Stars looked the hungrier side, allowing them to create more chances.
The Stars eventually made their share of possession count when Brian scored the winner.
Brian’s man-of-the match performance got the Stars camp and fans acknowledging him.
“He’s one of our promising players,” Ealedona said.
“He won best-player award at last year’s Eastern Papua Carnival.
“He plays for the Eastenders Club in Alotau.
“Brian still needs more game time and understanding of our structures but he is surely a promising player.”
In the Komara-Bougainville clash, the Gulf men played very well defensively and didn’t allow Bougainville a lot of opportunities to score. Numa Kila’s goal in the 20 minute was enough to secure the win for Komara.
Despite being a man down after Andrew Marampau had received a red card just before halftime, Komara were able to keep Bougainville at bay for the entire second half.
Southern Conference results: Eastern Stars 2 Star Mountain 1, Gulf Komara 1 Bougainville 0, Hekari United 5 Southern Strikers 0, Port Moresby United 3 Central United 1.