West overthrow Saints to become Ipatas Cup champs

JIWAKA’S Kulaka West have overthrown Ipatas Cup title holders Homeland Saints in the grand final on Sunday at the Lae Rugby League Oval.
Saints led 12-6 in the first half however gave way for Kulaka West to score two consecutive tries in the second half to win the match 16-12 and walked away with K50,000 bonus.
Homeland Saints captain Victor Ruing said they had a young team who could not hold Kulaka’s momentum in the second half.
“Our expectations were to defend the cup but the result didn’t turn out well for us,” Ruing said.
“We didn’t expect to come this far to the finals and the feeling is unreal for us, when we were defeated by Kulaka West.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough competition, considering that each year there were new players joining the teams from each highlands provinces.
“Coming in the second place in the game does not mean that we are going to give up.
“This has motivated us to work harder on our defence especially in the 10m line as we are slower in that.
“That includes the attacks in scoring tries as well.”