PNG Pepes

They lost to a strong team,  Northern Ireland,  47-35 in Singapore late yesterday.

Kicking the match off to a great start, Pepes demonstrated a mix of swift passes and astounding team play in split seconds, propelling their score to a huge lead of 11-4 by the end of the first quarter.

Solid team play between Northern Ireland’s goal shooter Jenna Bowman and goal attack Sarah Montgomery helped escalate their count to 19-9 by the end of the second quarter.

Both teams are so far undefeated in the tournament.

Northern Ireland who are ranked 12^th in the world have done it relatively easy with wins over Botswana, Singapore Invitational and Chinese Taipei.

The 16^th placed Pepes on the other hand have also registered wins over the same teams but by closer margins.

The match will get underway at 5pm (7pm PNG time) at the OCBC Arena.

PNG Netball President, Julienne Leka Maliaki said she is confident the Pepes can cause an upset.

PNG will play the winner of tonight’s (7pm) quarterfinal match between Fiji and Samoa.

Fiji is the favorites to defend their gold medal in the Pacific Games Netball competition.

They have won Gold four times already: 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

Netball was not contested in the 2011 Games.

PNG captain Lua Rikis continued her top form leading in front as she only missed one attempt from the 32 shots at goal.

Samoa started the match on a high, as their center court player Brooke Williams used her speed around the court directing play.

She combined well with wing attack Hanalei Temese, giving Samoa goal shooter Julianna Naoupu Laban free balls to put them in front at the sound of the first quarter siren 19-13.