Fans throw bottles at referee

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

WET conditions did not stop the Lae Snax Tigers from maintaining their fortress at the Lae rugby league ground with a 24-12 Digicel Cup rugby league win over the EPG Enga Mioks 24-12 yesterday.

The Tigers ran in four tries ag­ainst the Mioks, who could only muster two converted tries.

Halfback Ate Bine Wabo starred for the hosts in a match that was almost abandoned in the 69th minute after fans threw empty beer bottles and stones at referee Peter Starkey.

Police had to intervene by firing several warning shots to deter the rowdy crowd on the Eastern side of the field before play resumed after a four-minute break.

The unruly fans resulted in Wabo being forced to take the last successful conversion in the close presence of an armed policeman who kept watch on the crowd.

The uproar from the sidelines came after Mioks players disputed Starkey awarding the last try to Tigers winger Willie Mingou.

The crowd started throwing missiles at him but the Tigers players who were near the referee showed maturity by facing the crowd and appealing to them to stop before police intervened.

Tigers’ winger George Benson scored the first try after Wabo had kicked a penalty. 

Noel Joel and centre Joe Kingal charged in for the next two tries, with Wabo missing a conversion.

The Mioks two tries came from left wing Song Daing and Jeffery Maino and both were converted by halfback Roger Laka.

The Mioks camp, led by coach Timothy Lepa, cried foul at Starkey’s control, saying it was biased.

An earlier incident in the match  that fuelled the commotion later was a late hit on Mioks hooker Philip Dama by a Tigers player, resulting in Dama coming off the field to the blood-bin. 

The Tigers host the Stop N Shop Port Moresby Vipers next Sunday in the fifth round.