Minnows Northland Tailevu almost pulled a major upset before Lami fought back to hold them to a 2-2 draw during the Courts Inter District Championship at Buckhurst Park, Suva yesterday.

An emotional Northland coach Ramesh Chandra could not hide his disappointment after the match.

“We allowed Lami to score and get back into the match,” he said.

In the 15th minute Northland central midfielder Rajesh Roshan made a probing run deep into the Lami territory before slipping a pass to striker Inoke Ramanu who rifled it to the back of the net.

After a strong pep talk from coach, Deepak Chand, Lami came out firing in the second spell and right wing Ashwin Singh was able to beat the off side trap to slot in the equaliser.

Not to be outdone, Northland kept on the pressure and in the 50th minute a free kick, saw Lami goalkeeper Ravneet Lingam misjudged the ball, which allowed lanky defender Alvin  Chand to nod in their second goal as they regained the lead 2-1.

Sensing an upset win, Northland opted to play defensively which later proved costly. This was when Lami was awarded a free kick outside the penalty box and sweeper Asis Chand brilliantly placed the ball to the back of the net.

Chand said they had a shaky start, and was not happy with the condition of the ground.

“The condition is really pathetic and it is not good for football. The Fiji Football Association should look into this” he said.

Chand said another contributing factor is that his players were used to playing 90-minute of football and not 60.

“We should be okay by tomorrow as we should have most of our top players back.

They were not able to play today because of work,” he added.

Edited by Osea Bola

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