POM United out-hustle Strikers 2-1

By ISAAC LIRI
IN-form Port Moresby United notched up another win in the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League Southern Conference with a 2-1 win over Southern Strikers on Saturday.
The NCDC-sponsored side came out on top in a competitive match thanks to captain Donavan Murray, pictured, who organised his troops as they matched the Strikers for inensity but had the better finishing.
The mid-fielder set up his front men in Iamo Maneke and Stanley Tuman who caused problems for the Strikers defence.
A Murray corner saw Ben Idauman head in for the opening score in the 19th minute.
Despite that the Strikers upped the ante, creating chances for themselves with skipper Moses Peter prominent in the exchanges as they went into the break trailing 1-0.
Port Moresby lifted their game in the second stanza and started to show some skillful footwork as they had the Strikers defence at a loss at times to match them.
The Strikers gave away a penalty of a hand ball and Amon Meki made no mistake for a 2-0 lead.
With the game all but in the bag Port Moresby tripped up a little with Kenneth Tagi red-carded for a dangerous challenge.
Despite being a man down, Port Moresby had enough poise and experience to control the pace and tempo of the match.
The Strikers were allowed a consolation goal with a penalty on fulltime and Sylvester Wanim got one back for the Southerners.
Port Moresby’s assistant coach Clement Cafu Anison said their aim was to maintain second spot on the ladder and the win allowed them to stay in playoff contention.
“We’ve been training hard week in week out and most of our players are unknown players but they are doing pretty well at the moment,” Anison said
“We could’ve won by more but I think our boys went off our game plan a little bit with too much dribbling so that is something we have to manage in our next games.”
Results: Hekari 2 Star Mountain 1, Port Moresby United 2 Southern Strikers 0, FC Bougainville 2 Central United 0.