Lions triumph over Tigers

Normal, Sports
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The National, Tuesday 15th May 2012

By ZACHERY PER
SIMBU TNA Lions recorded their first win at home in Kundiawa yesterday by defeating Lae Snax Tigers 28-24.
Tigers came back strongly in the second half from a 20-0 deficit in the first half to end with a thrilling four-point lose to hand the Digicel Cup rookies  their maiden victory.
Lions put up a strong performance in the first half to lead 20-0 at half time.
If it wasn’t for two late tries the Lions would have been blaming themselves for letting the game slip out of their hands.
Man-of-the-match  Kuni Minga and Lions teammates Andrew Sipil, Anton Kui, Kawagle Dila scored tries in the first half but goalkicker Willie Guambo converted only one of the four tries.
Tigers led by Mae Tom, Sydney Fred, skipper Mark Mexico and Benson Joel tried their best to register points in the first half but could not break the home team’s resolute defence.
In the second stanza, Tom eventually scored for the visitors and converted his own try to open the Tiger’s account and trail 6-20.
The Tigers came running in with tries to Ricky Sibiya, Graham Pokea and Ezekiel Akilo to threaten a thrilling comeback for the Lae franchise.
However, in the dying minutes, Lions Robert Darma threw the Tigers’ efforts down the drain with a try three minutes before time to seal the game for Lions 28-24.