The Safety Security Management Tai­levu/ Naitasiri side won the hearts of many football fans with their sterling performance during the 2022 Digicel Fiji FACT at Lawaqa Park, Sigatoka.

The Nigel Khan- coached side brought back many fond memories of the Tailevu/Naitasi­ri side of the last 1970s that produced many of the country’s top players like Dewan Chand, Tutunisau Caucau, Govind Lal and so on.

Despite bowing out of the FACT semifinals, Tailevu/Naitasiri players proved their worth.

The opened their Group match with a 2-1 win over Nasinu. They held hosts Nadroga 1-1 and lost 1-0 to Suva over a controversial pen­alty goal, which resulted in the referee being suspended. They also went down to Ba 2-1 in the final Group match.

Tailevu/Naitasiri Football Association president Sandeep Roy praised his players for their gallant performance.

“I’m so proud that despite the odds my boys gave their hearts out for Tailevu/Naitasiri,” he told Fiji FA Media.

“They played for pride and they are the pride of our district. We came into a major tourna­ment after eight years and most of the play­ers were playing in a tournament for the first time. They sacrificed a lot and I salute them.

“We have come a long way in this tourna­ment and picked up our performance in every match we played.” he said.

Roy praised the efforts of the head coach and his team.

“He (Khan) has done a lot for Tailevu/Naita­siri. He has sacrificed his time to coach and assist the players.

“He is a true son of Tailevu/Naitasiri and has done a lot for the district.”

Roy urged the people of Nausori to keep sup­porting Khan and the team in all their future matches.

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