Four teams chase B.O.G crown

A new Battle of the Giants (B.O.G) champion will be crowned this weekend at Govind Park, Ba, after defending champions Labasa were eliminated from the tournament yesterday.

Despite the Babasiga Lions’ 2-1 win over Navua, they failed to qualify for the top four as they needed to win by three clear goals.

The four teams through to the semi-finals are Suva, Nasinu, Rewa and Ba.

Suva head coach Pita Rabo is confident his side will return stronger for the top-four battle after their 2-1 loss to Nasinu in their final pool match did not affect their qualification.

"We’re coming back stronger, more than ever," Rabo said.

“I just take my hat off to the Nasinu side. It was a great performance from them today, but for us, I always tell the boys you don’t have to underestimate any team.

“One of the good things that I’m so comfortable with is that now we sort of come down and bring ourselves down.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but we’ve been working so hard in the past seven weeks as we’ve been building this team together as an association.

“We’re making sure that we need some changes to the team, but to come out here and in the B.O.G, it’s not easy.”

Rabo said qualifying was the best Father’s Day gift for his team and their fathers.

"To all the players and all the fathers of Suva FC, happy Father’s Day, and it’s a very special occasion today for the fathers and the new fathers to come through,” he said.

“We want to thank everybody back in Suva, to the Suva fans, thank you so much for being supportive.”

The capital side beat Navua 3-1 in the first game and Labasa 3-0 on the second day.

“It is a great feeling for me as a coach that can see that now we’re sort of moving in the right direction as a team.”

Nailaga native Sakaraia Naisua was rested yesterday because of an injury sustained in the second game.

Two test positive for drugs

Fiji FA chief executive officer Mohammed Yusuf confirmed that two players tested positive for drugs after the first two days of the tournament, from 24 tests conducted.

Another 24 players were tested yesterday, with the results expected to be released today.

“We want to continue with this crusade, supporting the Government of the day to eliminate drugs in sports, and testing is a huge deterrent to players who want to use the substance at the same time and play football,” Yusuf said.

Day three results

Nasinu 2-1 Suva
Nadi 1-0 Rewa
Labasa 2-1 Navua
Ba 3-0 Lautoka

Semi-final draw

Saturday

2pm: Suva v Ba
4.30pm: Rewa v Nasinu