Genesis, Poro wary

By LARRY ANDREW and PARTICIA KEAMO
PORO will be eager to maintain pole spot in the Northern Conference when they face second-placed Morobe Tulip in round three of the Women’s National Soccer League at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium tomorrow (9am kick-off).
Poro assistant coach and Papua New Guinea international Raymond Gunemba said they still had a lot of areas to improve on despite their perfect start to the season.
Poro will then face Pacific Gardens at the Papua New Guinea Football Association Academy at 11-Mile outside Lae on Sunday, with all eight Northern teams playing two matches each this weekend.
“We are not focused on where we are on the ladder despite our two wins from as many matches,” Hekari United forward Gunemba said.
“We need to work more on our combinations to produce better results.
“We can’t expect our current form to give us a free pass against our opposition this weekend. We have been working hard at training all week as we know Tulip and Gardens will be determined to halt our momentum.
“We need to maintain that winning spirit. So I’ve warned my side not to take them lightly.”
Meanwhile, in the Southern Conference, ladder leaders Genesis are wary of Amoana despite the Central side’s luckless start to the season.
“We’re taking Amoana seriously because we know that they are here to compete,” Genesis coach Percy Mataio said ahead of tomorrow’s 3pm clash at Papua New Guinea Football Stadium.
“We’ve been working on what we want to do in to make sure that we don’t make mistakes when we come to the opposition’s half to score goals.
“We will be trying our best to make sure those opportunities count and that we don’t concede any goals.” Fixtures: Sat, Dec 19 — NCD v Port Moresby Academy, Port Moresby City v Hekari United, Genesis v Amoana, Morobe Tulip v Poro, Tusbab Laidamon v Sepik, Pacific Gardens v Markham Raings, Bara v Rainy Lae; Sun, Dec 20 — Morobe Tulip v Bara, Tusbab Laidamon v Markham Raings, Sepik v Rainy Lae, Poro v Pacific Gardens.