Reigning premiers, Lae Snax Tigers, made it two wins from two games after holding on to beat Kroton Hela Wigmen 20-16 in front of a very vocal crowd at the Sir John Guise Stadium this afternoon.
The Tigers raced away to 16-0 lead with tries from Pasu Awane, Enoch Sine and Robert Vuia.
The Tigers continued to dominate possession while the Wigmen struggled to keep up with a fast paced attack.
After managing to muscle up in their defence, the Wigmen finally found their rhythm and got on the scoreboard in the 32nd minute, after Steven Mark sliced through the defence to run away and score under the posts.
A successful conversion from five eighth William Mone brought the score to 16-6, which was the score at the break.
The Wigmen came out firing in the second half and the deficit was soon reduced to converted try, thanks to winger Ian Maliaba’s four pointer.
The tide started to turn in favour of the Wigmen, who were hungry for more points.
The 60-minute mark saw the score at 16-16 when Mark crossed over for his second of the game.
But the Tigers held their composure and took back the lead straight from the restart after an error from the Wigmen.
SP Hunters enforcer, David Loko, made the Wigmen pay dearly after he bulldozed his way over to slam the ball down.
Brick wall defence from the Tigers ensured the win as they held on for the remainder of the game to walk away victors.
The man of the match was awarded to former Hunters player, Timothy Lomai.