Lae, Madang claim national youth crowns

 THE Tablebirds National Youth Football Championship for Under-17 and U20 women ended on a high note despite the soggy conditions at the LFA Park in Lae, Morobe.

The finals watched by faithful soccer supporters saw in the U17 grandfinal Madang, who had displayed an entertaining brand of football from day one beat hosts LFA 5-4 in a penalty shootout while LFA had to overcome a stiff challenge from sister association Lahi who were the defending champions in the U20 final to engrave their name on the Tablebirds Cup.

The award presentation was dne by Dr. Keith Galgal the corporate affairs manager for Mainland Holdings on behalf of the company to individuals and teams that took part in the finals.

In the individual awards, the referee’s award went to Andrew Waup while top goal-scorer for U17 was Shane Kops from Bialla with Madang’s Nicola Niaman picking up the U20 award. For the most valuable player awards, Goroka’s Fenah Eokufa (U17) and Lahi’s Gira Chung (U20) claimed the honours.

For team awards Goroka (U17) and NCD PSSA (U20) got the fair play awards to end the competition on a positve.