Wawens survive Youth

MOROBE Wawens survived a first-half scare to beat Northern Youth 2-0 in round seven of the National Soccer League Northern Conference at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae on Saturday.
The early stages of the clash was an even contest with Youth keeping Wawens quiet for a scoreless opening half.
Wawens coach Percy Mataio then made changes which saw Winston Somasi producing a through ball for substitute Teddy Tommy to open the scoring before Ferdallas Namuesh sealed the win with a goal from outside the penalty area.
Mataio told The National that the game was all about playing against themselves in terms of the players’ mindset but Wawens became complacent in a lot of areas.
“This is the type of game that challenges you in terms of how you have prepared mentally, not too much physical aspect,” he said.
“The physical part of our game happens on the field.
“The psychological aspect is where we supposed to be able to bring ourselves to that level to compete.
“Our first-half performance proved that there were a lot of inconsistencies in our mental preparation.
“It also said a lot about our opposition as they were prepared to give us a run for our money.
“They came prepared to beat us.
“If they had converted their chances into goals, it would have been a different story.”
Mataio said they showed more composure in the second half to score two goals and record another win.
After the completion of round one, defending champions and perfect starters Lae City lead the competition with 18 points, followed by Wawens (13), Dwellers (10), Sepik (6), Tusbab Stallions (5), Morobe United (4) and Northern Youth (4).