Star Mountain go into break on high note

By PATRICIA KEAMO
STAR Mountain earned another win after they beat Southern Youth 4-1 in round seven of the National Soccer League Southern Conference at Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Saturday.
The Francis Moyap-coached side struggled in the first half after Youth opened the scoring through Joel Charlie before they equalised with a goal by Pasea Kiki.
Coming into the second half, the Western side found their feet and picked up momentum with the injection of substitute Tau Winnie who scored a goal and assisted in two others.
Star Mountain team manager Joseph Ame said the start of the season was tough but they managed to pick up two wins before the end of the first round.
“It’s all about teamwork, we had a rough time when the season started,” he said.
“We recruited well but when the season was progressing, we had difficulties but we all worked together as a team and we came out with two wins.
“A win is a win but within the (technical) department, we really need to step up individual performances.
We need to work on ball control.”
Meanwhile, the league’s two-week break will also see the opening of a transfer window for clubs who wish to recruit or release players.
Ame said some of his players had notified the management of their intentions to transfer to other clubs.
“That’s up to them but we’re willing to release them,” he said.
“We’ll have to look at our rosters before we can decide on whether to recruit new players.”
Southern Youth coach Mathew Witu said he had been doing a lot of work with his side but they were still struggling to get the basics right.
“We had plenty opportunities (to score) but we just missed,” he said.
“If we had scored goals in the first half, I think the game would have gone differently.”