Laka gets work done himself

By LARRY ANDREW
IF you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
And you only have to look back as far as Sunday’s Digicel Cup match between the Enga Mioks and Gulf Isou to find that the quote, by famous French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, rings true.
After starting the year with two losses and three draws, Mioks coach Roger Laka — in his second appearance as a player this season — led his side to their first win (24-14) in Lae.
The round-six win saw the Mioks leapfrog the Kimbe Cutters, Central Dabaris and Waghi Tumbe into sixth spot on the ladder with five rounds of the regular season left.
But the former SP Hunters playmaker has warned his men to remain focused ahead of this weekend’s clash with defending champions and ladder leaders Lae Tigers. Laka said although the win was scrappy, they were happy to finally secure maximum points after recording three draws from their past five matches.
“We will play the Tigers in our next game,” he said after the match.
“Obviously, they are a quality side so we need to return to training, analyse the Isou game and produce a better performance in the Tigers match.”
Mioks fullback JB Dom opened the scoring with an unconverted try after Enga used their mobile forwards to bring play into Isou’s territory but Gulf equalised in the 21st minute through centre Charlie Koto.
With Mioks captain Supa Kokote leading the pack, and halves Junior Pokapen and Tom Kinipo dictating play, Dom crossed over for his second unconverted try before winger Kora Lega added another four-pointer to give Enga a 12-4 lead.
Substitute Laka then took the field and converted Lega’s try to push the Mioks out to a 14-4 lead.
But Gulf substitute Nelson Wak responded with a converted try to see Isou trail 10-14 at halftime.
The Mioks scored two second-half tries through centre Missach Welen, with veteran Laka converting one of them to put the game beyond doubt.
Isou scored a consolation try in the 73rd minute through winger Mega Pali.
Gulf coach Nigel Hukula blamed the side’s poor completion rate for their fifth loss of the season.
“It was really disappointing,” the former Hunters assistant coach said.