The Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League enters Round 4 of the competition this weekend with entertaining football matches on the cards in both Southern and Northern Conferences.
With competition leaders Lae City FC and Hekari United FC on byes this weekend, it’s a great opportunity for other winning teams in the competition to close the gap.
In the Southern Conference, the main game between Star Mountains and Gulf Komara will be one to watch with former Komara player Donovan Murray to rally his charges for a favorable result. And with coach Francis Moiyap at the helm, Star Mountains could come up with some surprises to see them through.
Moiyap hasn’t revealed his game plan but we could see his midfield duo Michael Saun and Steven Inia work effectively to set-up their forwards. Expectations are high this weekend for flanker Joel Tiampo, and also for Inia to finish strongly.
The Gulf provincial flag will be raised high by the unpredictable Komara team as coaches David Aua and assistant Steven Mune prepare to deliver a plan-of-attack.
In the second game, Central Dabari will take on Southern Youth FC. Southern Youth won their opening game against Tavur FC 2-1, but have not found favourable results since.
Dabari, under the coach of Kila Babaga, have some promising talent from the Central province. Babaga will once again rely on his courageous captain Karo Iga at fullback, Gerega Vavine and Renagi Renagi at midfield, and Nuga Vere at the front.
After going down to Hekari 4-0 in their previous match, Southern Youth FC is tipped to bounce back.
Southern Youth captain Ezekiel Vela and his deputy Jalam Millis have a huge task to lead this young team. They will need much needed support from Ronald Reggie, Jeremiah Jack, Karo Kila, Nathaniel Eddies and Martin William to lift their performance to produce positive results.
Tavur FC has a chance to register their first competition point against Port Moresby Strikers. Despite having a good number of seasoned players in the team, Strikers are still finding their feet in the competition.
In the Northern Conference, Morobe United FC will be looking to stop the Morobe Wawens.
The Wawens were on a high when they beat Sepik FC 9-4 to propel them into the second spot after ladder leader Lae City FC and they are looking forward to another strong performance.
Morobe United have regrouped and hopefully will come out strong this time with captain Eliude Fugre leading the team. Despite losing Alex Kamen and Freddy Steven to Lae City Dwellers, Morobe United have some strong players capable of causing an upset.
In the opening matches, Lae City Dwellers will take on Sepik FC while Tusbab plays Northern Youth FC.
The youth team have learnt some major lessons from their big loss against Lae City, and plan to come out stronger this time in their match against Tusbab.
Round 4 Fixtures:
Southern Conference –11am Tavur FC vs Port Moresby Strikers. 1pm Central Dabari vs Southern FC. 3pm Star Mountains vs Gulf Komara FC.
Northern Conference –11am Lae City Dwellers vs Sepik FC. 1pm Tusbab vs Northern Youth FC. 3pm Morobe Wawens vs Morobe United
