The draw might not sound appealing, but, for the Labasa College Under-19 football side, they were glad to hold Swami Viveknanda College (SVC) 1-1 in the Digicel Fiji Secondary Schools Football Interdistrict at Subrail Park, Labasa.

Labasa College coach, Ronil Ram, said he was satisfied with the one point, which took them to four points in Pool C.

Ram said they studied their opponent’s game and mapped out a plan to tame them in front of their home fans.

“We knew they were fast and had a good set of players who can attack and pose a threat in front of goal,” he said.

Ram said with SVC boosting seven Nadi district youth reps, they knew that pushing for an attack minded game would be key.

“As per the description by the Fiji Secondary Schools Football Association (FSSFA) officials, SVC is the pick of the tournament and favourites to win the Under-19 title,” he said.

When asked on what went wrong in the second half after taking an early lead through a superb header by Eparama Moroica from a free-kick.

Ram conceded they lost momentum in the second half and the heat factor played a part in their inability to continue with the flow.

In the dying stages of the game, SVC equalised.

“Lapse of concentration in the counter plan prevented us the win, however, we remain confident that we will qualify for the quarter-finals tomorrow,” he said.

Labasa College has beaten Sigatoka Andhra 2-0 and is in a must win game against DAV College in their last pool game.

Other Northern schools that played saw Labasa Muslim College beat AD Patel College 1-0.

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