Korave suspended

Sports

CENTRAL Dabaris coach Gairo Pepena says co-captain Adam Korave has been handed a one-week ban following last Sunday’s match and will not face Goroka Lahanis tomorrow (3.05pm kick-off).He said they were relieved that it was just a week’s ban, which was handed to the former SP Hunters forward for using profanity against the referee. Pepena said last week’s performance in their 8-all draw with Gulf Isou was expected, however, they were looking forward to achieving better results tomorrow.“I’m expecting a better performance than last week,” Pepena told The National yesterday.“Our defence was pretty good and I thought that saved us from being beaten.“But a few things we worked on included our marker defence which was inconsistent (last week) and our line speed. “I was really disappointed with our attack (last week) as the team had a lot to offer, but came up with two tries only. “Our spine did not click and there was no direction at all as we had a game plan and the execution was really bad.“Given all that, we had a look at the tape (of last week’s match) and worked on our strategy throughout the week, so we’ll see how we go this weekend against the Lahanis.”Meanwhile, Lahanis coach Gonzella Urakusie told The National that his side played out of position last week which had cost them in their 4-24 loss to reigning champions Hela Wigmen.“I think the boys were lacking confidence against the Wigmen,” he said.“I’ve talked to the boys during the week, trying to fix that. Hopefully, we turn things around against the Dabaris
.” Fixtures: Sat, June 12 — Eagles v Wigmen, Lahanis v Dabaris; Sun, June 13 — Cutters v Gurias, Isou v Muruks, Vipers v Mioks, Tumbe v Tigers.