Rookies Dabaris, Tavur to do battle

By ROBINSON LEKA
ROUND three of the National Soccer League (NSL) will see Central Dabaris face fellow rookies Tavur at Port Moresby’s Papua New Guinea Football Stadium tomorrow (11am kick-off).
The Dabaris are favourites for the opening clash of the Southern Conference triple-header after grabbing their first NSL victory with Kila Tau and Karo Iga starring in their 2-1 win over Star Mountain last weekend.
Tavur, who are yet to register a win this season, will be concentrating on their finishing with striker Albert Roy, Alex Kim and skipper Gerard Lashel to lead their attack.
Tavur assistant coach Hans Fred outlined the need for more quality in their overall performance with match fitness also a worry for the West New Britain franchise. “We still have a long way to go in the season, but our fitness will determine whether we finish the match on a positive note,” he said.
Meanwhile, Star Mountain and Southern Strikers will both be eager to bag their first win of the season with the two still trailing in the conference.
The final clash will see Southern Youth — fresh from last weekend’s bye — face a mammoth task against conference leaders Hekari United.
The development side, under coach Mathew Witu, impressed in their 2-1 season-opening win over Tavur but they insisted that there was more room for improvement.
“We were good in some parts of the game and other times we didn’t play according to our game plan,” Witu said.
“We got lucky a few times but you can’t keep relying on that when you go up against big teams like Hekari.”