Gurias hold off Kandes, punching their ticket to the Big Dance

The ENB Agmark Gurias edged out the Kandes RLC with a gritty 20-18 victory in the Digicel-ExxonMobil Cup Preliminary Final on Sunday, 6 September 2026, at Santos National Football Stadium in Port Moresby. 

During their two meetings in the regular season, the Kandes beat the Gurias 26-16 in Round 1, and they drew 12-12 in Round 13. Having a score to settle, the East New Britain men took revenge against the newcomers in the penultimate showdown.

Given their recent rivalry, this match-up was shaped to be physical and intense. Both sides exchanged high emotions and brutal hits in the 80-minute contest, with the Gurias managing to overcome the Kandes by a 2-point win. 

In-form centre Jayden Numapo opened the scoring for the Kandes in the 14th minute, showing brute strength and outclassing his opposite number. Half-back Charlie Simon failed the conversion, leaving the score at 4-0.

Gurias struck back in the 22nd minute, with captain Terry Wapi registering their first 4-pointer before Simon Johnson scored the second try. Half-back Mark Alunga converted two goals, leading the Kandes by 12-4.

Right on the stroke of half-time, the opening try-scorer Jayden Numapo bagged his second 4-pointer following Charlie Simon’s grubber. Simon missed the conversion, trailing the Gurias on 4 points at the break (12-8).  

The Morobean men went firing in the second half, with rampaging front-rower Ezekiel Yaru putting the ball under the uprights and Dickson Otto scoring on the corner.  Simon added only one conversion, leapfrogging the Gurias by 6 points (18-12).

Undeterred by the lead, the East New Britain men answered back, with prop Muka Kalu barging his way over the try line. Alunga failed to nail the extras, narrowing the margin to 2 points (18-16).

With six minutes left before full-time, the Agmark-sponsored franchise scored a match-winner through centre William Tirang and put the game beyond reach, stealing the win from the Kandes and advancing to the grand final. 

Gurias' coach, Wartovo Puara Junior, said he was happy with the victory, but noted that they needed to work on important areas and prepare well to meet the red-hot PRK Mendi Muruks in the big dance. 

“I’m very happy with the boys’ performance this afternoon. There are a lot of areas to fix, especially in our attack, but they showed really good effort in defence,” Puara Junior commented. 

“We will go back and review our game and see where we went wrong. I think there are a lot of things that went wrong today, so we will work on those key areas during training and come prepared to face the Muruks.”  

Puara praised the Kandes for giving the Gurias a run for their money: “They (Kandes) are a very good team coached by an experienced coach. They have been on top of the ladder the whole season, so I congratulate them for the season.” 

The ENB Agmark Gurias will go head-to-head with the PRK Mendi Muruks in the 2026 Digicel-ExxonMobil Cup Grand Final on Sunday, September 13th, at Port Moresby's Santos National Football Stadium.