Posted By Staff Reporter
THE SP PNG Hunters kept their top five spot hopes alive with a 32-22 win over Norths Devils in the Round 22 clash at the Kalabond Oval on Saturday.
The victory pushed the Hunters up to 27 points on the Intrust Super Cup premiership table, keeping the PNG side in sixth spot, just outside the top five. The visitors posed some early questions with five-eighth Todd Murphy, halfback Darren Nicholls and hooker Krys Freeman controlling their attack, making the most of their mountain of possession to take the half-time break 14-6. The Hunters despite a lack of possession had their share of chances with an intercept try to winger Garry Lo disallowed due to a tackle for which second rower Lawrence Tu’u was placed on report. Lo had another disallowed after a sweeping back line movement saw a flying Lo stretch out to score in the corner only to be called back after the touch judge ruled he stepped on the line in scoring the try. Dion Aiye was dangerous throughout coming up with some big plays in the second half one of which resulted with him crossing for a try and spoiling a near certain Devils try with a great defensive effort. Aiye lined up the Devils winger and forced him out of touch for a crucial turnover in possession to douse the counter-attack the visitors had launched. The Hunters scored six tries to the Devils four and while each of them were important for the home side the one that was rated as the best of the match was from winger Adex Wera. Wera’s try was a brilliant individual effort, built around great evasive skills, where he bounced out of several tackles using smart footwork, calculated change of direction and sheer determination. Wera had an outstanding game with his probing runs and breaks, picking up the match officials man of the match award. The other Hunters try scorers were David Loko, Thompson Teteh, Roger Laka and Brandy Peter’s with two minutes on the clock, which became the match sealer. Murphy collected a double and kicked three goals with winger Michael Lucas and Nicholls the other Devils try scorers. The Hunters now prepare for another crucial game against Ipswich Jets this weekend in a must win game to stay in the hunt for a top five spot. Comments are closed.
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