Top duo save City

By LARRY ANDREW
TOTI City FC’s Nigel Dabinyaba and Raymond Gunemba continue to stamp their mark in the National Soccer League as the top goal scorers with the pair bailing their side out with a goal each in their 2-1 win over FC Momase on Saturday.
The pair brought their season tally to six a piece in their fourth round encounter with a feisty Momase outfit at Lae’s Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium.
With the national representatives sharing 12 goals out of the club’s total of 20 so far in 2018, it was no surprise that they were the names who would be relied on to get the club home in a surprisingly tough encounter.
Madang FC, who posted a 6-1 win over Buang in Madang, brought their tally to 16 goals.
The signs are ominous with FC Momase, who only played their second match of the season after having their last fixture washed out.
They conceded the opening goal to striker Dabinyaba, who was well set up by Gunemba in the third minute.
But Momase did not let the goal affect their game plan as Theo Sergius, Moses Arisib, Basil Jofari and Anil Pasam rallied to keep the home side from building any momentum.
While Momase were able to keep City’s midfield in check, their inability to score from opportunities created saw them trail 1-0 at halftime.
City started the second half with purpose looking to put more pressure on the visitors and it paid off in the 55th minute with Gunemba scoring to give his side some breathing space.
To Momase’s credit they fought back a minute later with Jofari getting his side on the board to trail 2-1.
City coach Peter Gunemba said he was disappointed with his side’s performance coming off a 7-2 thrashing of Madang.
“I am not happy with our performance today,” Gunemba said.
“We will need to pull up our socks before our first game in the OFC Champion’s League next week.
“Our midfield did not do their job linking our backs with the front. That was our failing and we need to polish up this area. We need polish up and prepare well for our first game in the champions league against the Cook Islands champions,” Gunemba said.
Momase coach Rosen Matanga said even though his side were down by a goal early on he was pleased that his side held the best side in the competition and competed well for most of the game.
“I think we actually matched them in the midfield and when we had our chance we took it.
“We allowed the two goals because of lack of concentration but, all in all, I am very happy with our performance.
“We did well in the midfield but need to work out our front line. We need to work out our combinations and when we have chances we need to score goals,” Matanga said.
City 2 (Nigel Dabinyaba , Raymond Gunemba goals) Momase 1 (Basil Jotari goal) HT: 1-0 (City) at SIK Stadium, Lae.