Change of tactic leads to winning goal

The half-time message from Ba football men’s coach, Ravinesh Kumar, for his players to exploit the outside flanks instead of attacking from the midfield area assisted striker, Etonia Dogalau, to score the injury-time winning goal.

Ba took a major step towards winning the Extra Premier League (EPL) title since 2019 after they beat hosts Labasa 2-1 at Subrail Park last Saturday.

Speaking to this masthead, Kumar revealed his half-time message after both teams were tied 1-1

“I instructed my players to play the ball and keep possession, to attack from the wide flanks of Labasa’s defence rather than directly going through the middle,” he said.

“We could not penetrate our attacks through the middle knowing of their strong defenders like Lekima Gonerau and Sekove Naivakananumi”

Kumar said they patiently waited for Labasa to lose concentration, which allowed Dogalau to link up with the cross and score the winner.

The men-in-black have taken a four-point lead over Labasa on 36 points with two rounds remaining.

With two rounds left in the EPL, Kumar remains optimistic that they had laid one hand on the league title.

“We still have two games left to play, anything can happen in the league in terms of upsets, so we will be cautious.”

Kumar said the win could be termed as a ‘turning point’ where they were able to absorb pressure and deliver which showed resilience and determination worthy to be called champions.

“Both Labasa and Ba were fighting for the top spot in the league and hats off to Labasa players, management and officials, it was a gallant performance from them,” he added.