Reds run riot
The National, Monday February 2nd, 2015
By GABRIEL LAHOC
CHAMPION club Hekari United have thrown the gauntlet to the pretenders to their title with a 3-0 away drubbing of Lae City Dwellers 3-1 in their opening National Soccer League match of the this season.
A brace sent Nicholas Muri surging to the top scorers list in another ominous sign of how hard it will be to wrest the title off the nine-time champions.
In the main match of the first double header of the season, Besta PNG United ran over an inexperienced Oro FC 4-1.
In what was a much anticipated match at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium since the Telikom-sponsored semi-professional soccer competition season started two weeks ago, eager Lae fans were left devastated at the new Lae franchise’s capitulation.
Former Besta PNG United striker Tommy Sammy plotted Hekari’s second goal in the 21st minute after Muri opened the scoresheet with his 14th minute opener.
Under captain David Muta, Hekari, prolific young midfielder Emmanuel Simon clearly showed out the weak Lae midfield combinations and poor ball distribution.
Lae’s prodigal sons in captain Raymond Gunemba and Nigel Dabinyaba, who last year left Hekari to return home, were easily contained by their former team mates, while Lae fullback Valentine Nelson had a busy 90-minutes in front of the near rampant Hekari attackers
Lae fans will closely watch this new franchise’s performance in the hope the City Dwellerscan better Lae City United’s record of a draw, a 1-0 loss and a 3-0 hiding by Hekari United last season.
In the main match, Oro’s flanker Patrick Aisa stood out with his quick feet and stylish dribbling that brought a consolation 88th minute goal against Besta PNG United’s four goals.
Papalau Awele scored the opening two goals in the 16th and 36th minutes, followed by a spectacular diving header from Alex Kamen in the 40th minute.
Kamen connected with a low ball in front of the goalmouth to score the goal of the round a contender for the goal of the year.
Brendan Ben scored Besta’s fourth seconds from fulltime as Oro were exposed for their lackof fitness in the exhausted way their players hung in.
Besta coach Bob Morris said he had a relatively new team with strong combination building still an important part of his technical team to work out among the young development players at the Papua New Guinea Football Association Academy in Lae.