After drawing 2-all against the Port Moresby Strikers in the season opener on Sunday, July 7th, the United Highlands FC upped their tempo in round 2 and defeated the Lae City FC, 2-1 on Saturday, July 13th, at PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby.
With a 1-0 win over the Lae City Dwellers in Morobe’s capital last weekend, the Lae City FC came with a momentum to maintain their winning streak, but the determined United Highlands FC stopped the visitors.
The match started at a fast pace, with both sides attacking and counter-attacking each other to find the back of the net. First half was a real arm wrestle, leaving the game in a stalemate (0-0).
After the break, the United Highlands roared back to life and opened up the game with a goal. A few minutes later, they scored again to control the game.
Lae City were not under pressure by the lead, as they have some experienced players. They held their composure and competed, which saw them finally score their first goal and pushed the match to a grandstand finish.
The United Highlands FC coach, Percy Mataio, was happy with the win but admits that they have a lot to improve on.
“The boys followed my instructions, but they did not score any goals in the first half. However, we corrected our mistakes in the second half and scored two goals to defeat Lae City FC,” Mataio said.
“The win doesn’t mean that we are good. No, we still have some areas that we failed to execute. We will work on those mistakes and be better in our next couple of games.”
The United Highlands FC will face the Morobe Wawens in their round 3 fixture of the 2024 Premier Soccer League competition on Saturday, July 20th, in Lae.
PC: PNGFA FB
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