Veteran Muta leads his side to win over Star Mountain

Hekari United kicked off their Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League (NSL) campaign with a 3-0 win over Star Mountain at the Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby on Saturday.
The match got off to a slow start with both sides missing a lot of goal-scoring chances in the opening 30 minutes.
Mineral Resources Development Company-sponsored United scored their first goal in the 31st minute through winger Daniel Joe after a set move from siblings Ati Kepo and Kolu Kepo in the Star Mountain’s penalty area.
The second half was all Hekari as they came out firing which caught Star Mountain’s napping.
Former NSL champions Hekari scored their second goal in the 55th minute when striker Kolu Kepo scored off a couple of touches by his teammates.
Hekari’s final goal (69th minute) came from another set move by forward Ati Kepo from the right flank with a cross-field kick which found the boot of his teammate Vanya Malagian who made no mistake.
Star Mountain defenders Nowe Simo and Jarius Kondi were under the pump throughout game and found it difficult to contain the Kepo brothers and Malagian.
But Star Mountain goalkeeper Katau Albert was a standout in the losing side, saving a number of goals from Hekari.
Hekari captain and midfielder David Muta told The National that his side still needed to improve in many areas of their game.
“We still need a lot of improvements in our game,” he said.
“There’s a long season ahead and we can’t afford to do some of the mistakes we did today (Saturday).”
In other Port Moresby match, Bougainville beat Gulf Komara 3-2.