WNSL to rush season

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE Women’s National Soccer League will complete its remaining four round matches in the next two weeks following a decision made by the Papua New Guinea Football Association’s executive committee last week.
The association cited security concerns especially for Highlands Conference players with the issuance of writs for the general election scheduled next week.
This will now see the Highlands Conference matches played on Saturday and Sunday on May 7-8 and 14-15.
Southern, Northern and New Guinea Islands Conferences will play their regular Saturday fixtures as well as mid-week matches on Wednesdays.
According to the association, the decision was made after considering the safety of the players, especially teams that travelled on the Highlands Highway during the election period. The remaining fixtures will be completed by May 18.
Upon completion, the top-two teams in the four conferences will automatically qualify for the finals.
Each conference will stage their own finals to find an eventual conference winner to advance to the grand final playoff.
The association, however, has not confirmed dates and format for the conference finals as well as for the grand final playoff.
Meanwhile, this weekend’s games at the Kimininga Police Barracks Oval, Mt Hagen, will see the Highlands Conference teams play their round-seven fixtures on Saturday and round-eight matches on Sunday.
The other three conferences will play their normal round-seven fixtures on Saturday at the Hutjena Oval, PNG Football Stadium and PNGFA Education Centre outside Lae.
Mid-week matches for the New Guinea Islands, Southern and Northern Conferences will be held next Wednesday to complete round eight in their respective conferences.