Former stylish midfielder turned striker Thomas Vuli­vuli is the interim coach of the Labasa football side. Vulivuli was with the team when they walloped Nadroga 3-0 in their Digicel Fiji Pre­mier League match at Subrail Park, Labasa, last Saturday.

He did not wish to comment on the absence of head coach Johan Lee­wai, from the Labasa bench.

Vulivuli said he had approached Labasa Football Association presi­dent, Riyaz Khan, if he could assist the team during training, which he agreed to.

Speaking to SUNsports, Vulivuli said team bonding has contributed to the team’s success.

Dubbed the Babasiga Lions, they have secured 14 points and are now in third position on the points table.

Positive approach

Vulivuli was impressed with the positive approach taken by the play­ers and that helped them secure an important win.

“Our players lost the spark during the earlier stages of the league when they were losing, but now the spirit in camp is high,” he said.

The return of reliable defender, Akeimi Ralulu and midfielder Edwin Shahyum have boosted their chanc­es.

Vulivuli said they adopted a slow but steady approach against Na­droga. He said their formation was built upon matching up to Nadroga’s strength.

“I know it’s a little slow, but we are improving every time.”

Vulivuli believed maintaining dis­cipline is the key to their winning run.

“The golden mantra taught to the players while in camp is to play hard, play clean, stay humble and stick to the game plan,” he added.

Nadroga coach, Stefan Ristic, was disappointed with the outcome but commended his players for playing a solid game.

“Given the situation with player shortage, Nadroga travelled to La­basa with 14 players,” he said.

Ristic said they played well in the first half and created numerous goal scoring chances.

“We missed seven goal scoring chances and had we converted it, the result would have been different,” he said.

Ristic is from Serbia and has been working with the Nadroga side for the past week. He believes the best is yet to come.

“Due to a limited squad, I had to ar­range players to play outside their normal roles, so adjusting is under­way and soon it will work.”

Labasa led 1-0 at halftime from a Il­aisa Nayasi header

In the second spell, the hosts ex­tended their lead in the 55th minute when Ashnil Raju’s header found striker Christopher Wasasala who made no mistake with his attempt.

Labasa’s Rusiate Doidoi finished the onslaught with a well-placed shot

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Story by: sampras.anand@fijisun.com.fj