By Jeremy Mogi – EMTV Sport, Port Moresby
Huawei PS will meet FC Port Moresby in the opening match of Round Six of the Telikom National Soccer League (NSL), which resumes this weekend after the festive period.
That match will coincide with BESTA FC meeting Madang at the Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae.
The last time both sides met, Giwi Simon and Maybon Manty scored at the end of both halves to give BESTA a 2-0 win over last season’s grand finalists.
This time, however, Madang will be looking to get a much-needed win that will keep their finals qualifications alive.
Lae City Dwellers will travel to the National Sport Institute in the Eastern Highlands to take on Goroka Gosiha.
Goroka were welcomed into the NSL in a rude awakening, losing 7-0 and with the inclusion of Michael Foster in Lae’s new look line up, they may be on the receiving end of another devastating attack from the NSL champions.
Back in Lae, Welgris will hope their narrow one goal win over Admiralty can be continued. However, Admiralty have recently begun to improve. The Manusians will not want to lose, as their season is as much at stake as Welgris, who are currently three points ahead of them on the table.
In Port Moresby, hosts FC Pom will meet Huawei PS. While style dictates performance, FC Port Moresby have been the underperforming side of the competition thus far, considering the number of matches they’ve dominated and almost scored in.
A 3-2 by Huawei opened the season for them against FC Pom, and they’ll be hoping to continue that form against Reginald Davani’s side.
PKA Rapatona ended 2015 on a sour note, after a 0-0 battle with Gigira Laitepo. They take on Erema, who they defeated after coming back with goals from Patrick Aisa and Pettyshen Elizah.
Hekari United and Gigira will cap off the round. Hekari had opened this season’s competition with a 4-2 victory, which included a double by Koriak Upaiga, after Gigira had spent much of the match defending strongly.
The second half of the season is now in its crucial stage. All twelve teams from across the four locations in the country know how important wins are at this stage, but the latter part of any competition has always seen teams come back stronger and more knowledgeable over their opponents strengths and weaknesses.
