Komara put three past Strikers for second win

By JACK AMI
THE Gulf Komara beat the Southern Strikers 3-0 in their Kumul Petroleum Holdings National Soccer League Southern Conference round three match at the Sir John Guise Stadium on Saturday.
Komara rattled off a competent performance to record their second win of the competition against a young Strikers outfit.
But despite putting three past the Strikers goal they also let multiple chances go begging and coach Percy Mataio would have been disappointed with the lack of execution against a team they were expected to beat and beat well.
The Komara, who won the Football Federation of PNG title as the Erema last season, banked goals from Leana Kila, in the first half, and Jamal Seeto and Rupa Emil in the second period to come away with a solid win.
The Strikers looked to be the faster team and upped the tempo at every opportunity but Komara’s experience and poise saw them make better use of their time in possession.
Kila, Seeto and Emil may have got their names on the scoreboard but they had great support from Kenneth Ara, Willie Gerega, Ralai Kila, Godfrey Haro, Laventine Monuo, and Toru Smoi.
Strikers, who are based from the Port Moresby School of Excellence programme, are in their debut season in the big time and with talent like Pascoe Bailey, Randal Passam, Walo Tau, Joseph Waiwai, Ronnie Kila and Mathias Oyabua, they will cause problems for everyone they face in 2019.
“We had to work hard for it (the win) and not underestimate the Strikers who pushed us to the limits but we managed to take our chances and defend well,” Mataio said.
“We had enough stamina to keep up with the Strikers and we could done better because we missed a few chances.”
Komara board chairman David Aua said he thought the Gulf side could have come away with a few more goals and they would work harder to be more effective in their next game.