Star Mountain, Vitiaz United bag round-12 NSL victories

STAR Mountain and Vitiaz United bagged a win each in the opening fixtures of the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League’s round 12 triple-header in Port Moresby on Saturday.
Vitiaz United’s Mathew David scored a hat-trick to help his side beat the visiting Morobe Wawens 3-0 at the PNG Football Stadium.
David opened the scores six minutes into the game after finding space on the left flank to shoot from 10m for their early lead.
Build-up work from the Vitiaz midfield saw forward Johnathan Allen set David up for his second goal, giving Vitiaz a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Wawens found few opportunities, with skipper Ferdahlas Namuesh and George Korei finding little room to move throughout the game.
Vitiaz’s Yagi Yasasa sliced through Wawens’ defence and found David with a cross-kick for him to complete his hat-trick and seal the match for Vitiaz. Meanwhile, an in-form Star Mountain side beat FC Bougainville 3-1 in the round opener with Star Mountain dominating the match.
Star Mountain midfielder Riggie Togubai opened the scores within 15 minutes while forward Tau Winnie added another to give them a 2-0 lead at halftime.
A struggling Bougainville side had little possession, with Basil Jofari and Gebby Yanum unable to find their combination at midfield with Togubai leading the charge again to find his second goal of the match. (3-0).
Robert Kenake struck back for Bougainville 10 minutes from fulltime and ended the match at 3-1.
Star Mountain coach Selan Elijah noted a strong performance following the inclusion of Tau Winnie and Junior Kaprangi.
“The boys did very well and we were vocal in defence and attack,” he said.
“I’m obviously happy.”