A SECOND-HALF masterclass from veteran rake Wartovo Puara Junior helped Sepik Pride claw their way back to draw 12-12 in their Digicel ExxonMobil Cup trial match against the Central Dabaris on Friday.
The match at Bava Park in Port Moresby attracted hundreds of passionate Sepik fans who cheered for their flagship rugby league team for the first time in the country’s semi-professional competition.
Marquee players Puara, five-eighth Watson Boas and offseason recruits from the Hunters Francis Kembis and Joe Frank provided the experience the latest entrant in the domestic top-tier competition needed in the second half.
Pride captain Puara Jnr said his men played well in their first ever match as a team.
“We are not like other teams, this is totally a new team playing together for the first time and this wasn’t a bad result,” Puara said.
“This is our first trial and that’s the only trial we have before round one which is two weeks away.
“Despite being a new team, there is some promising signs in this game and I think we will only get better.
“I think we need to work on our handling errors which is something we cannot afford to do in round one.
“If we can fix some of these weaknesses, we will do well in the season.”
It was a rough start for the new franchise as the Central government-sponsored Dabaris dominated the first half with a number of line breaks, with their backline putting on a show using their speed on the edges.
The EMK Construction-sponsored Pride had consecutive sets close to the Dabaris try-line midway through the first half but their new spine combination of fullback Roy Ellison, Boas, halfback Daniel Lipu and Puara could not quite provide the flow and sharpness needed to take advantage of the opportunities to get them over, as Dabaris defended their line without too much trouble.
Dabaris scored two unanswered tries in 25th and 34th minute to lead 12-0 at half-time.
As Dabaris continued to build pressure in the second-half, Pride relied on their stars with Puara stepping up in the 61st minute with a big dummy to break through the Dabaris defence to score under the uprights.
A successful conversion saw the Pride trail 6-12.
With five minutes before full time, the courageous Pride did not want to go home with defeat as they put on some big tackles which shook the Dabaris and resulted in errors and from there launched a comeback.
The Pride made the most of their opportunity with Puara making the play out of dummy half to set up a hard running middle forward Baddy Jack who carried several Dabaris players over the line to score under the uprights and a successful conversion to levelled the scores.
Both sides had their chances to claim the win in the remaining minutes but poor execution and errors cost them.
News source www.thenational.com.pg
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