EAST New Britain Agmark Gurias had a deep search for victory in the second half by pulling off a 16-point winning margin against the home team, Central Dabaris.
In round 13 clash of the Digicel ExxonMobil Cup in Port Moresby yesterday, both teams displayed a lot of energy, however, Gurias capitalised on an early awarded penalty to open their scoreline with two points.
Dabaris on the other hand seem too easy in their attack and in the 10-metre, Max Tonia leaped into the in-goal area to score from dummy.
The home side made several runs at the Gurias territory, however, Gurias kept shutting them off with their impressive defence.
Lack of ball control and incomplete sets in the first half prevented both teams to execute their game plan well to earn points.
However, Chris Benjamin of Gurias was able to find space in between the Dabaris defence through a cutout pass from veteran playmaker Ase Boas, and levelled the scoreline at six in the first half.
In second half of the match, Gurias coach Jessie Alunga was smart to identify their winning strategies by utilising the winners to cross the line.
Their (Gurias) quick play and rucks in the middle made the Dabaris’ defence squeezed up in the middle.
“We had the advantage of scoring out wide, by pulling them (Dabaris) to middle through the rucks and make sure we had the outside men in position to score tries,” said Coach Alunga after the match.
“I am happy with the way the boys managed to turn this match around in the second half.”
Gurias dominated the second half with their sold defence despite Dabaris gaining good metres that could see them score at any angle of the field.
Gurias went on to full time siren with a penalty to Ase Boas.
Mark Alunga converted the penalty goal to end the match in favour of Gurias with 22 points to 6.
