JK Nadi Veterans beat Lautoka Masters to win Over-50 title

JK Nadi Veterans, coached by Lambert Sarju, won the RC Manubhai/APCO Coatings Veterans Over-50 final at Govind Park in Ba today.

The Nadi side defeated Lautoka Masters 5-4 on penalties after the two teams were locked at 0-0 at full-time.

Nadi’s successful penalty takers were Josefata Malakai, Michael Maharaj, Muni Nandan, Anare Tokalevu and Prem Junior.

For Lautoka Masters, the penalties were scored by Dina Mani Mudaliar, Rakesh Chandra, Rajnesh Kumar and Anand Sami.

Head coach Sarju praised his players for their effort despite the hot conditions.

“Hat off to the boys. They are 50-plus, and the weather conditions were quite hot. They gave their 100 per cent and worked as a team,” Sarju said.

“There were some injuries, but they did their best.”

Sarju said most of the players had previously competed in the Over-40 grade before moving into the Over-50 category and had won major tournaments over the years.

In the Veterans Over-40 final, United Friends defeated Ba Legends 3-0.

Goals came from Simione Tamanisau, Nitan Kumar and Valerio Nawatu.

Tamanisau, who scooped the Golden Ball award, thanked the Ba Legends players for giving their best in the final.

“It is good to play against each other once again and come back and play our passion,” he said.

“There were a lot of good teams in the competition, and the boys gave their hearts out, which resulted in the victory.”