Tigers survive Rabaul Gurias

LADDER-LEADING hosts Tigers survived a scare to beat Rabaul Gurias 20-16 in round eight of the Digicel Cup at the Lae Rugby League Ground on Sunday.
Hungry for a win, the visitors were on the front foot and scored their first try through left winger Elipas Pidik 10 minutes in.
Pidik converted his own try to put the Agmark-sponsored Gurias in front 6-0.
With the crowd behind the visitors, the game was intense with Gurias forwards Isaac Patrick, Andickson Yamason, Tuvi Lepan, Francis Takai and captain Edward Goma gaining valuable yardage down the middle.
The Tigers opened their account through centre Rodrick Tai who crossed over for an unconverted try 15 minutes in.
The Lae Biscuit Company-sponsored hosts scored their second try through fullback Sanny Wabo who squeezed through the Gurias defence.
Five-eighth Joshua Lau added the extras for a 10-6 lead.
With 27 minutes gone, an infringement in Gurias territory saw referee James Tau Amos awarding a penalty to the Tigers which Lau successfully converted to extend the lead to 12-6.
The Stanley Tepend-coached Tigers returned in the second stanza with Wabo scoring his second and Lau successfully converting the try to increase the lead to 18-6.
However, that did not hold back the Gurias side as they worked hard to score their second try which Pidik converted to trail 12-18.
The visitors applied more pressure and were rewarded in the 59th minute when Eliakim Lukara scored an unconverted try out wide to trail 16-18.
But the Tigers held on to register the seventh win of the season.
Gurias coach Marcus Kaugla said after the game that his men played well, but he questioned some decisions by the referee.
“It’s a big problem but the decisions made by the match officials are beyond our control,” he said.
“They need to be fair in their decisions as we want to enjoy the game.
“We had a definite try that was disallowed.
“If they are fair and do their job right and we win or lose, we have no problem.
“But losing due to (bad) decisions by the match officials is disappointing.”