Late charge saves Suva

MERRILL Nand saved Suva from the jaws of defeat as they fought back to hold Rewa to a 2-all draw in their Digicel Fiji Premier League clash yesterday.

The Delta Tigers dominated the first half limiting play in Suva’s territory and controlling possession.

Suva’s defense stood firm until the 16th minute when Epeli Valevou headed in a well-taken cross by Josaia Sela outside the 16-yard box.

Rodeck Singh’s team pressured the Whites in their own half keeping goalkeeper Hashmuk Patel busy in the initial 45.

Trailing nil-1 in the second spell, Suva showed promise as they sought for the equalizer but the experience of Tevita Waranaivalu and Iowane Matanisiga kept them at bay.

Pressured once again in their territory, 19-year-old Shivam Shandil made an amateur mistake when he failed to clear the ball from the box giving Iosefo Verevou the perfect chance to net Rewa’s second goal.

Hope was not lost for the Capital city side with Merrill Nand pulling one back to close the gap at 1-2.

Just when spectators thought, Rewa was going to walk away with the win, Nand caught his opponents napping when he snuck in the equalizer right on the 90th minute mark.

A frustrated Rewa coach was disappointed with the final result.

“Some gave their hearts out while some are just very bad. Some are getting thick headed, making poor decisions, the last ball we could’ve cleared it and secure the victory but we didn’t do it,” Singh explained.

“We cannot score, we missed a lot of chance in every game, it is an ongoing issue from last year. Despite addressing finishing in training yet we come up short, it comes down to the player confidence in front of the goal mouth and I don’t expect myself to drill that, the players themselves need to work on their confidence and finish off chances in front of the goal.”

Suva president Intiaz Khan who was a stand-in coach for Naizal Khan who was out with sickness applauded his team’s fighting spirit.

“I would say we have picked up by 60% and that deals with the management of the players, attitude and positioning of the team. Last week against Ba maybe the players did not have the right mindset but today (yesterday) was much better. We conceded two goals but we had that mood which we didn’t have in Ba last week,” he said.

“To be honest, first 10 to 15 minutes we had some arguments with what I was trying to do with the team, they eventually adopted it, apologized at halftime and from there we picked up.”

Rewa will face Tailevu Naitasiri next while Suva meets Labasa.