Pride claim Ipatas Cup

JIWAKA’S Northern Pride beat Western Highlands side East West Ninjas 18-6 in the Coca-Cola Ipatas Cup grand final at the Lae Rugby League Ground on Sunday.
The Pride claimed the trophy and K50,000 in prize money.
The Jiwaka side earned a mercy pass into the playoffs and took their opportunity through a brand of hard running rugby to become champions of Papua New Guinea’s largest offseason competition.
The Ninjas took the runners-up prize of K25,000 while Morobe Pride, who lost 12-13 to Ninjas in the semifinal, bounced back to beat Strickland Raiders of Hela 20-0, in the third place playoff.
Morobe earned K15,000 while the Raiders got K10,000.
The Ngekon Security Services sponsored Pride under Waghi Tumbe five-eighth Saki Peter scored in the third minute from broken play when prop Gene Markham scoop up the loose ball to dive over out wide. Peter converted the try for a 6-0 lead.
Handling errors dulled play over most of the half but there was a bright spot. The Pride launched an attacking play inside the Ninjas’ half as Peter sold a dummy from first receiver to scamper to the line.
He converted his own four-pointer to push the lead to 12-0.
The second half was understandably more tense as the Ninjas lifted in search of points. The Pride pack led by Brian Keripe and Markham put their bodies on the line against Ninjas’ Nelson Dum, Valentine Culligan, Bradley Micky, John Kalimba and Shane Kalimba.
The Ninjas failed to put on points at crucial moments and the Pride put the game further out of reach with 12 minutes left when Peter’s class shone through as he set up lock Sem Ngend for a converted try for an insurmountable 18-0 lead.