A Dream Come True for Tirau
“I was in Year 3 when I loved football. There is a lot of competition for positions in the Ba team now. I need more game time but I have to trust the process.”
Tuesday 30 January 2024 | 13:56
Penisoni Tirau (right) and Ba co-coach Timoci Seru at Churchill Park, Lautoka on January 28, 2024. Photo: Waisea Nasokia
Young Rooster Chicken Ba football team’s midfielder Penisoni Tirau, is living his dream.
With 14 minutes remaining, Tirau took the field in the first leg of the Pillay Garments Champion versus Champion (CvC) series against Tigers Aroma Café Lautoka, last Sunday.
The 19-year-old told SUNsports that it was a dream come true to play for the Ba senior football team.
“It is a good feeling especially for us who grew up in Ba where football is the most revered sport,” Tirau said.
“I was in Year 3 when I loved football. There is a lot of competition for positions in the Ba team now. I need more game time but I have to trust the process.”
The Nasukamai, Ra, lad with maternal links to Vadravadra in Ba, attended Bulabula Sanatan Primary School where he played for the Ba Under-12 side at the 2018 Fiji Primary Schools Inter-District Championship and the following year he played for the Ba U14 team.
He also represented the Ba U16 and the Ba Youth team.
Tirau featured for the Fiji U20 in Australia during their preparations for the FIFA World Cup U20 in Argentina.
He also won a gold medal and broke the senior boy’s triple jump record at the 2023 Ba Zone meet and later won the gold medal in the senior boys’ event at the 2023 Coca-Cola Games.
He made his debut at the 2023 Pacific Games in Solomon Islands, where he won a silver medal in the men’s triple jump, a sport he loved since he was 17.
Penisoni Tirau (right) and Ba co-coach Timoci Seru at Churchill Park, Lautoka on January 28, 2024. Photo: Waisea Nasokia
Ba co-coach Timoci Seru recalled that he had met Tirau in the Ba U14 team in 2019 at the Fiji Primary Schools IDC at Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori.
“Now we meet again in the Ba senior team in 2024. We are proud of him,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ba needs to win with two clear goals to hoist the CvC title while Lautoka only needs a draw.
Ba faces Lautoka in the return leg of the CvC at Churchill Park, Lautoka, on Sunday at 3pm.
Feedback: waisean@fijisun.com.fj
