Vitiaz eye win No.2

By ROBINSON LEKA and LARRY ANDREW
NEWCOMERS Vitiaz United will look to continue their perfect record when they face Star Mountain at the Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby tomorrow (1pm kick-off).
Star Mountain will be looking to bounce back from a 0-3 opening-round defeat to Hekari last weekend with forwards Tau Winnie and Pettyshen Elizah leading the charge for the Selan Elijah-coached side.
Star Mountain team manager Jayso James So-on told the National yesterday that the addition of local players Clancy Selok and Wapi Wanim could prove the difference against a talented Vitiaz outfit.
“They (Vitiaz) will be looking for their second victory but that will be determined at fulltime,” he said.
“It will be our first game against them. It will be a good experience.”
The second of a Port Moresby triple-header will see Hekari United face fellow opening-round winners Bougainville (3pm kick-off).
Bougainville coach David Passam said his side were wary of the challenge ahead of them. He said he would look to skipper Abel Redenut and new recruit Jonathan Allen to match Hekari.
“Hekari play structured football and with the Kepo brothers — Kolu, Atti and Freddy — up front, the task is daunting,” he said.
“We believe we have done enough at training to give Hekari a good game.”
The final match will see Gulf Komara face defending champions Lae City (5pm kick-off).
City captain Raymond Gunemba told The National that his team were backing themselves to put in a better performance after they escaped with a 1-0 win over Tusbab in Madang last weekend.
“Most of our regular players did not play against the Stallions due to injuries,” he said.
“We’re also missing the services of Nigel Dabinyaba and Emmanuel Simon who are overseas.
“But we’re remaining positive.
“We’ve worked on the areas that we needed improvement.”