Underdogs edge Mero Blacks in Mahuru JT 9s tourney

By JACK AMI
A ROBIN Emil extra-time field goal helped Mahuru Underdogs edge Mero Blacks 9-8 in the Mahuru JT Nines rugby league tournament at the Kilakila village oval last Thursday.
The son of Papua New Guinea Kumuls legend, the late Aquila Emil, Robin positioned himself in front of the upper rights to boot the decisive point three minutes into golden point.
Underdogs opened the scoring out wide when Robin produced a cut-out pass for winger Peter Tandu to score an unconverted try one minute from halftime.
But poor ball security in the Underdogs’ own red zone invited Mero Blacks’ Henry Marai barge his way over to equalise near the uprights, but Jay White missed an easy conversion.
Both sides failed to score any points in the second half.
Going into 10 minutes of extra time, both sides were again level at 8-8.
But Robin and his Underdogs had the last laugh when he boot the winner.
“We were hammered by the opposition and I knew the boys were exhausted, so the only hope was to take the field goal and claim the match with a one-point win,” Robin said.
“Blacks were a tough side, so we had defend well all match.”
He said the majority of their players were Butuka Academy and Bavaroko Primary School students.
“But we were supported by senior players Raymond Kele and Joe Karau,” Robin said.
With the experience of Henry Marai and Junior Wale, Blacks tried hard to gain the ascendency, but the Underdogs stood firm and defended their tryline.
Meanwhile, Underdogs’ Philip Tulapi was named as the man-of-the-match.