Three unanswered tries in the opening 20 minutes of the first half, provided the catalyst for a clinical Bintangor Goroka Lahanis outfit to end East New Britain Agmark Gurias 2023 campaign.
It was 24 - 18 in the 2nd elimination final of the 2023 Digicel ExxonMobil Cup, in front of the packed Santos National Football Stadium on Sunday.
Charlie Buka and veteran captain, Thomson Teteh got the Lahanis on the front foot early, using their attacking prowess to send Gurias back paddling. They selfishly kept possession for a good 20 minutes and turned them into valuable points to lead 18-0 before Gurias got back into the contest to trail 8-18.
Lahanis first half-scoring spree started from a typical Buka dummy half play, after a quick play the ball by Teteh very close to Gurias line to put Lahanis front 6-0.
Buka picked up his 2nd in similar fashion to extend Lahanis lead 12-0 again at the back of another Thomson Teteh run and play the ball close to the Gurias line.
Lahanis kept their simple game plan working to build pressure and capitalize on Gurias comedy of errors to build pressure before young fullback Douzen Hoyato scored on the right edge for 18-0 scoreline.
Gurias finally woke up from their slumber in the last quarter of the first half to launch a courageous fight back scoring their first try through Alex Max to trail 4-18.
A beautiful cut out pass from Ase Boas found right winger Chris Benjamin to score Gurias 2nd try untouched. Boas missed both conversions for Gurias to trail 8-18 until halftime.
Gurias came out of the sheds and resorted to using their big men through the middle to pick valuable metres into Lahanis territory. This paid off with a brilliant run to the line by Max using his explosive speed and footwork to score his 2nd for a 14-18 score line.
A well weighted kick to the Gurias corner by Lahanis half-back Israel Balio setting his number 4 Mafu Ken that would seal the deal 24-14.
Gurias showed some resilience when Chris Benjmin scored from a perfect pass by Batari for an 18-24.
At full-time Lahanis defeated Gurias 24-18 to proceed to the next preliminary against Tigers to decide who meets Mioks in the grand final. Man of the man Charlie Buka.