Rabaul Gurias, Kimbe Cutters to welcome visitors

RABAUL Gurias and Kimbe Cutters will play their first home matches this weekend when they face Gulf Isou and Goroka Lahanis respectively in round seven of the Digicel Cup.
The seventh-placed Gurias face Isou (eighth) in Kokopo tomorrow (2pm kick-off) with both sides coming off wins last week against Central Dabaris and the Cutters respectively.
The Marcus Kaugla-coached Gurias will be looking to improve his side’s finishing after an explosive start last week with centre Roy Ellison and fullback Ilias Stanley leading their attack.
“The boys really gave everything we worked on in the first half, but we really need to fix our second-half performance,” he said.
“We’ll work on our defence and how we finish because that’s what is really important.”
Isou will be looking for their third win of the season.
Coach Bagelo Solien is anticipating a tough encounter with skipper Rieko Jimmy and veteran halfback Roger Laka carrying their hopes.
“The Gurias are a good side and they make you pay if you make mistakes,” he said.
“Our forwards need to stand up and we need an 80-minute performance from everyone.”
Meanwhile, the 10th-placed Cutters face the Lahanis (11th) at Kimbe’s Humphrey’s Oval on Sunday (2pm) with coach Luke Samak’s men eager to bag their first win of 2021 at home.
“We’re playing at home so we’ll be strong in our preparations and we intend to make a winning start there,” he said.