The Ba football side saved the best for last as they thumped Cook Islands Tupapa Maraerenga 4-1 in their final Champions League pool clash at Korman Stadium in Port Vila, Vanuatu yesterday.

Ba’s toast was nippy striker Samuela Nabenia who scored three goals while Narend Rao nailed in the oth­er.

Ba coach Ronil Kumar said the aim now is for them to qualify for next year’s Champions League.

“I told the boys that this is not the end of the world but to give their best and try to make it to the next cham­pionship,” Kumar said after recording their first win.

Ba started strongly with Saula Waqa missing many goal scoring opportunities. But they took the lead in the 24th minute when Nabenia slammed in their first goal and again in the 32nd minute when he headed in another to extend their lead to 2-0.

At the start of the second half Tupapa Maraerenga suffered a big setback when their captain Mili Joseph had to leave the field and was replaced by Willyn Ka­rika.

Ba kept on the momentum and Nabenia slotted in their third goal before Sean Latimer pulled one back for Tupapa Maraerenga.

With the 3-1 lead, Ba never gave up as they kept on with their attacking moves before Rao kicked in their final goal in the 85th minute.

Ba’s win have seen them avoid the bottom rung of Pool A

Line-up: Misiwini Narube, Avinesh Suwamy, Manasa Nawakula, Samuela Nabenia, Abbu Zahid, Sitiveni Ca­vuilagi, Troy Watson, Kishan Sami, Saula Waqa, Nar­end Rao, Laisenia Naioko

Edited by Grace Narayan

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj