Pride, Raiders earn CCIC gold passes

By ZACHERY PER
UNCLES Cottage Goroka Pride rugby league club of Goroka have earned an automatic gold pass into the next stage of the Coca Cola Ipatas Cup (CCIC) challenge after coming through undefeated in the four games they played during the EHP leg.
CCIC EHP Challenge coordinator Michael Joppa said Prides were undefeated in pool A since the beginning of the challenge on last Thursday.
“Goroka Pride are the automatic gold-pass earner after winning all the four games played since Thursday and ended on Sunday,” Joppa said.
“I am elated,” Pride franchise owner Ben Noel said.
The gold pass, he said, was a harvest of the seeds had sown to recruit players from all corners of Goroka town.
He said the team had changed from being dominated by a certain area of the town, dismantled and diversified to have players from all over Goroka to play for Goroka Pride.
“This is a Goroka team that deserved to win the gold pass and we will give our best in the Jiwaka leg,” Noel said.
Joppa said in pool B JAKA Investments Raiders earned the gold pass after the technical management team worked out the percentage after three teams ended in a 6-all tie. Sponsor of Raiders Jacob Kai also confirmed yesterday another team, Elimbarti Miners, he sponsored for the Chimbu Challenge had also won a gold pass.
He said the two teams were training together in Goroka for the next gold challenge in Minj and Wapanamanda next weekend.
Kai said they wanted to expose new talent and the major sponsor was Jaka Investments, a Civil Construction company based in Chimbu and Eastern Highlands.
Joppa said: “The three team in pool B have a 6-all tie so when we worked out the percentage, JAKA Raiders ended with 17 per cent, Haveomnenmpa ended with 13 per cent and New Guinea Highlands Coffee Mill Roots ended with 12 per cent.”
He said the next two top teams in both pools each got K500 consolation prize money while the gold pass winners earned K4000 each. Pool A top two apart from Pride are CBL Norths and Crust Valley.