Lae City take on Wawens

Gunemba determined to continue winning start

By LARRY ANDREW
DEFENDING champions Lae City are aiming to keep their perfect record intact when they face Morobe Wawens in the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium tomorrow (3pm kick-off).

The round-three fixture will be the first home game for the Peter Gunemba-coached side, who are yet to drop points this season after 1-0 wins over Gulf Komara and Tusbab Stallions.
Gunemba told The National that the Lae Biscuit Company-sponsored side were eager to keep pace with fellow front-runners Hekari United and Vitiaz United.
“The team are back to full strength with the return of Nigel Dabinyaba and Emmanuel Simon. We’ll be looking to put in a strong performance against Wawens,” he said.
Gunemba said offseason training at the Papua New Guinea High Performance Centre saw most of his players lose weight and improve their speed.
He said the team had been concentrating on ball work all week.
“We have 10 new boys. Four of them have NSL experience while the rest are from the local competitions,” Gunemba said.
“I’ve been blending the new players with our core group from last season and I hope we play a solid game this weekend.
“Dabinyaba and Simon will add more spark in attack for Raymond Gunemba and Emmanuei Airem. We want to be clinical in attack and score with every chance we get.”
Gunemba said in their last game against Komara, Raymond Gunemba, Airem and Obert Bika had several chances but couldn’t score.
“Wawens will come hard at us because they know they’ll playing the best team in the country. They’ll definitely give us a strong challenge.
“And not just Wawens but all the teams in the competition our out to give their all against us.
“We are aware of that and will not take very team lightly.
“We will give our best to win.
Meanwhile, Wawens coach Bob Morris, who is also the boss of the national side, said City were a quality outfit with many of their players representing the country.
“As the national coach, I regard them as high-profile players,” he said.
“Our team are made up mostly of young players so it will be a big task for us.
“We’ve a new side with plenty of exciting and energetic players who are not familiar with structured football.
“But I have been working with them and our 2-0 win over Morobe United is proof that we’re making progress. So we’ll give City a run for their money.
“It’s been positive since we resumed training on Monday so I believe the boys will give their best shot.
“City must not underestimate my players.”