Gurias rebound in rainy Lae to upset Tigers at home

By NAOMI KALATE
RABAUL Gurias bounced back from their disjointing loss last weekend to upset the Lae Tigers 16-12 at home in the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup round four match yesterday at the Lae League Oval.
Meanwhile, Mendi Muruks punished city boys Port Moresby Vipers 24-18 in the double header in Lae to remain unbeaten after four rounds of competition.
The introduction of captain Ase Boas who joined the Gurias in Lae was significant with the former Kumul organising the game with better organisational structure which was missing from their previous three rounds.
Gurias coach Jessie Alunga said they had to focus on their defence after the Mt Hagen Eagles exposed some of their loopholes in the round three match loss in Port Moresby.
And that proved the difference with the Gurias romping over Noel Zeming’s men under slippery conditions in Rainy Lae to lead 12-10 at half time.
“We actually focused on our defence during training after losing to Mt Hagen Eagles last week,” Alunga said.
“The players also followed our game plan and have communicated well and worked together as a team until the end.
“From today’s (yesterday’s) match, we learned that our outside backs have to work harder in defence and we would address that during our training seasons in preparation for the round five game next week against Hela Wigmen.”
The injection of Boas and his lethal combination with Wesley Batari in the halves proved the difference as Gurias led the home side with two converted tries 12-10 in the first half.
The second half was a shaky affair with Gurias extending their lead with an unconverted try in their clash yesterday.
Tigers, who defeated Enga Mioks in round three in Lae, only scored two points through a penalty kick in the second 40 minutes to end the game 16-12 with the Gurias holding on to grab to timely win in the Morobean captial.