Malolo Under-20 focus on quarter-final

Malolo Under-20 manager Sevuloni Nainima says his side must take one step at a time as they prepare for the Skipper Cup quarter-finals this week.

Malolo secured its place in last Friday after defeating Naitasiri 43-31 at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka yesterday.

Nainima told SUNsports last Friday the team would approach its next match with the same intensity as a final, despite securing qualification.

“As we build up towards the quarter-finals next week, we will be treating this quarter-final game as a final and we will not take it very lightly,” he said.

He praised his players for securing the win in a tense encounter and acknowledged Naitasiri for providing a tough contest.

“We were expecting a tough game, and we knew that they would really test us,” Nainima said.

He said the half-time message was clear: the team needed to secure victory and book its place in the play-offs.

However, Nainima identified handling errors, unnecessary penalties and high tackles as areas the team needed to address before the quarterfinals.

“The boys made a lot of handling errors, gave away penalties to the opponents and our discipline, due to high tackles,” he said.

“We will try to regroup and review those areas and learn from those mistakes.”