Passam says Bougainville need to show mental toughness

Sports

By ISAAC LIRI
MENTAL fitness is something Bougainville will have to work on in their upcoming games in round two.
These were the comments of Bougainville coach David Passam after their 1-0 loss to Hekari United at the Sir John Guise Stadium on Saturday.
Keeping Hekari scoreless in the first half and most of the second, Bougainville had the chance to win but lack of concentration and fatigue saw holes in their defence which saw coach Jerry Allan’s side scoring in the dying minutes.
“I think our boys did well in most parts of the game,” Passam said.
“But lack of concentration crept in and that’s when we realised that we were losing the momentum. Before they scored, I thought we were very much in control of the game.
“But then our defenders just couldn’t maintain their concentration and Hekari pounced.”
Despite losing some of their key players during the two-week recess such as Patrick Aisa to Hekari and Sammy Campbell to the Eastern Stars, Passam still believes his troops can bounce back from the defeat.
“We lost two players who are normally part of our first eleven,” Passam said.
“But we don’t see it as a huge loss because we have other players in the side who are capable of filling in.
“I think the lesson we can take from this game is that we need to be mentally fit throughout the match.
“It’s not something new to us, we’ve talked about it many times and I think we will have to keep on addressing that.”
In the other Southern Conference games, Central United beat Gulf Komara 2-1 and the Eastern Stars thumped second-placed Port Moresby United 3-0.