Home sides beaten

IT was a weekend of upsets in the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup round three fixtures as all home sides – Goroka Lahanis, Enga Mioks, Waghi Tumbe and Rabaul Gurias – lost to their less-fancied opponents.
Mendi Muruks remain unbeaten in 2024 with a 20-18 win over Waghi Tumbe at the Jonah Ambane Oval in Minj yesterday, while the Kimbe Cutters pulled the upset of the round, beating Goroka Lahanis 18-14 for the first time away at the National Sports Institute in Goroka.
Defending premiers Enga Mioks were beaten by a strong Lae Tigers side, going down 22-24 in Wabag while Mt Hagen Eagles beat Rabaul Gurias 22-14 at their temporary home, National Football Stadium in Port Moresby.
In the second game of the triple header in Port Moresby, highly fancied Hela Wigmen beat Gulf Isou 18-8 as expected before the underrated Central Dabaris outfit came from behind to snatch a 22-14 win from Port Moresby Vipers to finish off the round. The Petroleum Resources Kutubu (PRK)-sponsored Muruks are now sitting at the top of the 12-team competition ladder with three wins from three games.
Muruks are in familiar course in 2024 as they have been leading the competition in the early rounds in the last four seasons as well.
Meanwhile, Dabaris coach Steven Gunua couldn’t be more proud than the all-round effort by his men.
“It was great performance by the boys, we were good in both the defence and attack and we deserved the win,” Gunua said.
“But there’s still more room for improvement and we look forward to the next round.”
The match between the Dabaris and Vipers was a thriller which saw Vipers lead 14-10 at half-time, but the Moni Plus-sponsored side failed to hold off a spirited Central team who fought hard to come out victorious in the end.
Winger Douglas Pirika starred for the Dabaris in the opening 15 minutes when he scored a double; both tries were courtesy of a great combination with five-eighth Gairo Voro and centre Lega Batia.
The same combination was lethal for Dabaris as Pirika bagged two more tries in the second-half to complete his four-try haul that earned him the man-of-the-match award at the end of it all.
The Vipers equalled the Dabaris’ number of tries as they also scored four tries with captain Gilmo Paul crossing over as well. But poor conversion attempts by five-eighth Charlie Simon, who kicked one from four goals, had a bearing on the results.