By Tere Alex – EMTV, Port Moresby
The PNG girls, PNG Pepes disappointedly went down to host and the Asian champions Singapore 47-42 in the opening game of the Netball Nations Cup played yesterday.
It was not until third quarter, when the world ranked 17th PNG Pepes turned around a six- goal halftime deficit to give the host nation a scare.
Pepes were fired up in the final quarter with ball possession and a lead they soon relinquished. Uncertain shooting saw veteran Lua Rikis, youngster Jeperth Tulapi and Rayleen Andrew combine for a 63 percent conversion rate.
Head Coach Unaisi Rokoura pointed out the mistakes but it was a well-structured game.
“A pretty good start for us. We have been working hard in preparation for this and we wanted to play a very structured game. It was our own mistakes that caused us to give away unnecessary penalties but generally a good performance to start the week.”
Pepes played Samoa today and will play Malaysia tomorrow and Ireland on Wednesday. Host nation Singapore, Samoa and Botswana are leading the League table.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=DMx8Ww0DmY4%3Ffeature%3Doembed%26wmode%3Dopaque%26showinfo%3D0%26showsearch%3D0%26rel%3D0
