Samabula storm back with 4-0 win (Fiji)
Futsal skills help Samabula come away with a 4-0 win in outdoor
Samabula stormed back into contention for a spot in the Southern Forest/ RC Manubhai National Club Championship by outplaying Nasinu’s NTC 4-0 yesterday.
Goals to former Fiji Under-20 striker Maciu Tuilau, Sandeep Nair, Henry Dyer and Akariva Dau sealed the star-studded side’s first win and put them on second spot in Pool Two.
Samabula led 2-0 at halftime.
Coach and former national volleyball rep Alifereti Naqeleca wants a similar performance against surprise pool leaders Jolly Brothers today.
“We changed the formation to 4-4-2 and it did the job,” he said.
“Jolly Brothers is a good team and it will be a tough game for us tomorrow (today). This win was a moral booster and we hope to win the two games tomorrow (today).”
Naqeleca hailed the performances of national Futsal reps Joseph Mishra, Dinesh Mudaliar and Sandeep Nair.
“We reshuffled the team for the second game and used the three players on the right. They shared a lot of touches and combined really well,” he said.
“Their Futsal skills made a lot of difference for us. But all the boys improved from the first game.”
He said Samabula struggled against Rewa club side Lokia Sports because the players did not warm-up properly.
Navua’s Jolly Brothers lead the pool and walloped Lokia Sports 3-0 for two convincing wins in as many matches.
Long-range efforts by Michael Kumar and Roneet Sami set up a 2-0 buffer at half-time before Pranil Chand sealed the win in the second half with another stunning strike.
President Binesh Prasad said despite the wins, the side was yet to be guaranteed a spot in next weekend’s finals.
Prasad is wary of history repeating itself as during last year’s playoffs.
Jolly Brothers enjoyed a similar run in early pool play but a draw and loss to Suva’s Police in the last game saw the side bomb out.
“We’re still not there yet. We need to keep trying,” he said.
Samabula plays Jolly Brothers at 9am.
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