Rewa and Lautoka played two great games to determine who would represent Fiji in the final round of the OFC Champions League.
The defending champions were bolstered by Papua New Guinea goalkeeper Ismael Pole and experienced forwards Raymond Gunemba and Joses Nawo – Rewa had 5 players who had played in the World Cup qualifiers for the Fijian national team with Setareki Hughes as the standout performer.
The first match at Churchill Park ended 1-1 with Rusiate Matarerega opening the scoring for Rewa after a nice pass from Setareki Hughes. With 15 minutes remaining Sairusi Nalaubu equalized after a beautiful shot which Mohammed Alam could not defend.
In the second game, Rewa started pressing Lautoka and creating good scoring chances – After so much insistence, the goal came in the 24th minute with Rusiate Matarerega receiving the ball with the goal practically open.
Even without their key player – Setareki Hughes – Rewa continued to dominate the match. In the 37th minute, Alick Worworbu hit a beautiful shot from outside the box, beating goalkeeper Joela Biuvanua.
Rusiate Matarerega scored again in the 51st minute to increase the lead to 3 goals. Things were tough for Lautoka at that stage of the match and they did little for the rest of it.
With 10 minutes left in the match Samuela Nabenia still scored another goal and eliminated Lautoka, who have not qualified for the knockout stage since finishing runner-up to Team Wellington in 2018.
Rewa now joins Auckland City, Hienghène, Nikao Sokattak and Vénus for the OFC Champions League final round that should take place in August.
Oceania Football Center 