Hekari too good for Lae

 By GABRIEL LAHOC

HEKARI United reigned supreme in the National Soccer League’s penultimate round crushing Lae 3-1 on Saturday.

In front of a boisterous partisan  crowd at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, the defending champions  saw off the challenge from an enthusiastic home side and cemented  the minor premiership in the process.

With police presence and that of the visiting Enga Mioks rugby league team, the Reds paced themselves well to dismantle Lae and dent the Morobeans’ playoff hopes. 

The first half was a hard but fair tussle with neither side making headway until the 34th minute when Hekari’s Joachim Waroi scored for the visitors for a 1-0 halftime lead.

Ten minutes into the second half saw striker Kema Jack blast in Hekari’s second goal to have the home side on the ropes.

The match seesawed with strikers from both ends unlucky with their shots as Lae tried to get on the board. 

Lae, coming off a bye and spotting some changes to their playing and coaching personnel, were not able to trouble Hekari’s goal and that was a worry for fans. 

Jean Kaltack fired the last shot for Hekari in the 64th minute to take their lead to 3-0 which also saw dejected Lae fans leaving the stadium well before full time.

Lae scored a consolation goal late in the match through Emmanuel Yawi. 

Although the score line was not as wide as the 5-0 dealt to Oro FC last week, Hekari look unstoppable. 

Hekari 3 (J. Waroi, K. Jack, J. Kaltack) Lae 1 (E. Yawi) HT: 1-0 (Hekari) at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium, Lae.