Lahanis to muscle up in defence

THE Goroka Lahanis will be aiming to keep their Digicel Cup title defence alive with a win over the Mt Hagen Eagles in the main game of the elimination finals at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Sunday.
The earlier match will see the third-placed Rabaul Gurias take on the Hela Wigmen (sixth) to keep their season alive.
The winners of both matches advance to next week in another do-or-die contest.

The losers bow out of the premiership race and the winners take on the losers of the Lae Tigers-Waghi Tumbe match in week three.
Lahanis coach Umba Peter said this match against the Eagles was Important to their title defence.
“The message is very clear to the boys and they are all working tirelessly in our preparations for the match,” Peter said.
“We have been polishing up our defence all week so it complements our attack.”
Meanwhile, the Wigmen have a daunting assignment against a consistent Gurias outfit who have featured prominently in all the playoffs in recent years. Wigmen chairman Andy Hetra said the team sneaked into the top-six playoffs at the expense of last year’s grand finalists Enga Mioks.
“We are carrying the underdog tag following a slow start to the season,” he said.
“But luckily we strung enough wins together at the back end of the season to make the playoffs.
“We do not carry big name players but we are going out there to give our best shot on Sunday.”
After beating the Gurias in Lae in 2014 to win their first Cup, the Wigmen made the elimination finals again in 2015, only to be beaten by the Gurias in Kokopo.
In 2017, Wigmen made the semifinals, only to be beaten by Gurias in Port Moresby.
“This time we are not going to let this go easily, finals footy is all about who is hungrier and we have all the reason to be more hungry and we can’t let the Gurias stop us the third time,” Hetra said.
The Gurias are expected to field Hunters fullback Terry Wapi, Dilbert Isaac and Ila Alu.
Gurias coach Stephen Nightingale said their preparations were coming along well with the side using last week off to recharge.
“We mostly worked on our attack especially in the opposition red zone, so we’re looking to do well in that area against the Wigmen on Sunday.”