Suva clinches Fiji FACT title after hard fought win over Nadi

It is a fantastic Sunday to be a Suva FC fan; the Capital City Boys had clinched for the 3rd time in their history the Fiji FACT tournamet after a battle against Nadi that ended up in hard fought 1-0 win in favour of the coached by Babs Khan.

Nadi was dangerous in the first half, especially thanks to Avinesh Suwamy that with a fantastic free-kick saw a goal denied by a superb save of Suva’s Beniamino Mateinaqara. Minutes later the same Suwamy finished from outside the box and was once again denied by Mateinaqara – Sakaraia Naisua was also a danger for Suva’s defense, but they managed to hold the pressure.

The star Sairusi Nalaubu did not have impact in the first half, while Christopher Wasasala was a constant threat for Nadi’s defense – but the central defender Serevi Waqa made a good job to control Wasasala’s pace.

Unfortunately for the Jetsetters, the game was decided in an inidividual mistake: Shahil Dave crossed the ball to the box, Vereti Dickson and his defenders in a lapse of concentration saw the ball in front of the goal mouth, Afraz Ali tried to clear the ball, but he headed the ball in the back of Serevi Waqa – the ball went to Nadi’s nets to open the account for Suva -, a tragedy for the Green Machine.

Suva had another chance minutes later – a finish from Wasasala – that was denied by the goalkeeper Vereti Dickson. Nadi went ahead pursuing an equaliser, they pressed high and controled most of the ball possesion, but Suva was dangerous in the counter-attack and in one of those opportunites almost Nalaubu sealed the win for his side.

Rusiate Matarerega had the best chance to score for Nadi – he reveiced a cross from William Valentine, but he headed the ball off target. In the final minutes of the game, an appeal for handball inside the box thrilled the game – it appeared that Joeli Ranitu down in the ground had the ball deflecting in his arm after a clearance of Suva’s defense. Nadi players went furious, but the decision was upheld by the referee.

The final result saw Suva to finish a perfect season: two titles in the year and also being runners-up of Battle of Giants. The team, now the national champions and qualified for OFC Champions League, have the right to celebrate this glory of Fiji FACT and glimpse another titles in the horizon.

It is also important to credit Nadi for the hard battle and for a very interesting season for the Jetsetters that had the experienced Avinesh Suwamy as a major source of entertainment for the fans throughout the season with this impressive performances.