Tigers defuse Tumbe fightback

By PARKER TAMBUA
LAE Tigers held off a spirited Waghi Tumbe side to claim their fourth title in six years with 16-10 win in the Digicel Cup grand final at the Oil Search National Football Stadium in Port Moresby yesterday.
Tigers captain Mark Tony told The National after the game that the win was a testament to the Lae Biscuit Company-sponsored side‘s culture which continues to see them dominate despite the transition of new players joining the team this season.
The 2021 minor premiers got off to a rousing start with former SP Hunter Jerry Teme scoring the opening try from dummy-half.
Halfback Jamie Mavoko couldn’t convert from the sideline which saw the Tigers lead 4-0 in the 9th minute.
The Tigers scored again in the 15th minute when centre Lynol Molpoya made a line-break and set up his winger Max Vali in the corner.
Mavoko’s conversion was successful which extended the lead to 10-0.
The Tigers’ momentum continued when Molpoya made another line-break on the next set and sprinted away to score under the uprights.
Mavoko made no mistake of the conversion as the Tigers led 16-0 by the 19th minute.
It seemed for a moment the Tigers’ score would increase with momentum in their favour.
However, with a match-ending injury to Molpoya in the 25th minute, the momentum shifted Tumbe’s way for the remainder of the first half as they scored back-to-back tries through Job Kar and Valentine Wamdi.
David Joseph converted only one of the two tries which saw the scores at 10-16 with the Tigers leading at half-time.
The second half was riddled with errors due to light rain and the wet condition which saw no points being scored.
Tumbe had enough opportunities to level the scores but they failed to convert them into points.