WNSL Highlands, NGI conferences into last round of games

By PATRICIA KEAMO
ROUND matches for Women’s National Soccer League Highlands and New Guinea Islands (NGI) Conferences will end in Mt Hagen and Bougainville respectively this weekend.
The NGI Conference will see all six clubs play their final triple-header of the season tomorrow to determine the top-two clubs that would advance to the quarterfinals.
Mt Hagen will see the completion of the Highlands Conference with the last two rounds played tomorrow and Sunday at the Kimininga Police Oval after a week’s deferral.
Meanwhile, the last fixture for Southern Conference will see rookies Bernice face ladder-leading Hekari United at 3pm today at Papua New Guinea Football Stadium.
The NGI Conference completed its round-nine fixtures during the week and the last round tomorrow will see the opening match played between Central Bougainville and Hamatana at the Hutjena Oval.
Kiara will face South Bougainville at 1pm while Buka Atolls face North Bougainville in the match of the day.
Mt Hagen’s round-nine triple-header on Saturday will see Simbu Ambai face Goroka and Kuri battle visitors Southern Highlands.
The main match will be see the top-of-the-table clash between Mt Hagen and Mommers. The fixture will see whether Hagen can close the five-point gap between themselves and Mommers.
The final round on Sunday will see visiting team Goroka face Hagen and Mommers meet Kuri.
Visiting teams Simbu and Southern Highlands will end the conference’s round matches with their 3pm fixture.
Meanwhile, Papua New Guinea Football Association general secretary Pius Letenge said the format for the finals had already been decided and approved by the executive committee.
“We already have a format that has been endorsed by the executive committee which will be announced next week along with the eight teams that qualified for the playoffs,” he said. “The eight teams will meet in the quarterfinals with the winners advancing to semifinals while the losers bow out.”
The finals are scheduled for the weekends of June 4 and 11, but that is subject to change. Fixtures: Fri, May 20 — Hekari United v Bernice (Southern); Sat, May 21 —Central Bougainville v Hamatana, Kiara v South Bougainville, North Bougainville v Atolls (NGI), Simbu Ambai v Goroka, Kuri v Southern Highlands, Hagen v Mommers (Highlands); Sun, May 22 — Goroka v Hagen, Mommers v Kuri, Southern Highlands v Simbu Ambai (Highlands).