The SP PNG Hunters braved the hot Saturday afternoon in Port Moresby and the full brunt of the Mackay Cutters attacking play to hold on to a 8 point lead and defeat the Cutters at home.
Early on in the match it was the cutters who went on the attack first after a penalty gifted them an easy walk up field to set up their attack but were repelled by strong Hunters defense in Junior Rop who denied the Cutters an opportunity to open the scoring.
The game then went into a slow grind with both teams working to maintain possession and gaining meters, it was the Hunters not being able to maintain possession of the ball.
This looked to be a golden opportunity for the Cutters, but they failed to convert this into points due to the relentless Hunters defense. Ill-discipline from Mackay around the ruck gave the Hunters another chance to trouble the scoreboard soon after, and Benji Kot took it with both hands.
A backline movement on the Cutters line ended with Kot on the left edge, where he showed some nice skills to fool the defense with a dummy and sneak through the line. As fatigue grew into the game, the home side dominated the ruck, with one of carries from fast play, the boys gaining meters and granting the halves space to execute their set plays.
Eventually, it was back to back Footy which saw the Hunters dominate the middle third and momentum swinging both ways. The Hunters however, looked to be the hungrier team, which resulted in the final score 18-10 at home for their second win of the season.