Poro claim 13th win of season

By LARRY ANDREW
NORTHERN Conference winners Poro are one win away from creating history as the only Women’s National Soccer League team to finish the regular season without dropping a game.
The Meagan Gunemba-captained side recorded their thirteenth successive win of the season with a 4-1 win over Markham Raings at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae on Saturday.
The results of the other conference games saw Bara defeating Pacific Gardens 7-0, runners-up Sepik crushing Morobe Tulips 12-0 and hosts Tusbab Laidamon beating Rainy Lae 3-0 in Madang.
With Rakele Seka, Rayneta Samuel and Gunemba stepping up in attack, Poro opened the scoring when their skipper sailed the ball past Markham Raings goalkeeper Philomina Joseph for the first goal of her hat-trick.
The intensity of the game picked up with Raings’ Tracy Kipu, Nanufan Tai and Lina Anonga threatening Poro’s defence.
Both sides were on par with attempts on goal, however, they could not find the back of the net.
One minute from halftime, Raings’ Christina Siling and Sladdy Silas set up Anonga whose shot found the back of the net off a deflection which caught Poro goalkeeper Melissa Kilamu off guard.
Poro re-grouped in the second stanza and Gunemba found the back of the net to extend their lead to 2-1.
A minute later, Daisy Tokolu beat her Raings opponent to score Poro’s third goal before Papua New Guinea international Gunemba added her third strike to seal the victory.