The East New Britain (ENB) Agmark Gurias defeated the Kroton Hela (KH) Wigmen 22-16 in a match with some drama at the Queen Elizabeth Park in Rabaul in the round 16 of the 2024 Digicel ExxonMobil Cup Season.
The ENB Agmark Gurias took the victory over the Wigmen with 6 points thanks to Guria’s winger Chris Benjamin scoring his second try in the final 79th minute into fulltime.
The Wigmen and Gurias saw a heated first half, where a penalty was forced out of the Gurias within 10 minutes of the game where Wigmen’s Solomon Pokare successfully executed the goal.
Both teams exhausting the full set of 6 into the first 10 minutes when Wigmen five-eight, Tony Wemin opened the score board with a try in the 12th minute followed by a failed conversion by Benton Leme.
The leading Wigmen motivated the Gurias respond and score but were held up or too exhausted by the Wigmen Defence. A penalty was than awarded to the Gurias, where the fullback Liprin Sakias successfully converted into points in the 25th minute, this followed a try by Gurias Center Emil Benjamin in 33minute into half time. Gurias Lead first half 8-6.
Meantime, Guiras’ Mark Alunga and Wigmen’s Jacob Lot were both sent to the sinbin in the 39th minute.
The second half saw more tension resulting with two additional players sent off to the sinbin in the 43rd minute, joining the first two already in the sinbin from the first half.
The second half saw the Gurias came up with another try in 5 minutes by second rower Johnson Simon along with two tries by winger Chris Benjamin in the 53rd and 79th minute. With 2 out of three conversions each successful by interchange Ase Boas and Liprin Sakias. The Wigmen followed with two tries by center Junior Igila and hooker Woodie Kawage, with only one successful conversion, trailing the Gurias 16-22.
The Rabaul Gurias now proudly take their 9th win following 5 losses and 2 draws in the entire 16 rounds and look to face the NCD Moni Plus Vipers in round 17 on the 10th of August at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Rabaul.