Uphill battle against Ba says Lautoka coach

Facing Ba will be a challenging task for the General Machinery Lautoka side when they play for their Skipper Cup round six match at Vinod Patel ground, Ba on Saturday. 

Head coach Peniona Ranitu said it would be a tough encounter after their 41-38 loss to Naitasiri alst Saturday.

The sugar city side have only won two matches so far; they beat Macuata, 31-16, and Vatukoula, 37-32, in round three and four respectively. 

“Ba won against Nadi (last Saturday), so it’s an uphill battle for us,” Ranitu said following their INKK Farebrother challenge in Suva.

“We’re neighbours, it’ll be like playing against our brothers but we will see that after the game.”

Ranitu said some weaknesses they will improve on include decision making on penalties. 

“We could have kicked for goal for some penalties, otherwise the boys played with guts.” 

He hopes that his side will build on from their impressive performance against Naitasiri last Satuday, when they led until the final minute before the hill men scored the winning try. 

“Naitasiri came last year and took the Farebrother trophy from us; we came for revenge but things happen and did not go our way. 

“I want to thank the team for playing one-man down and held on until the 80th minute. 

“We still have four more games that we can look forward to.”

The Lautoka and Ba match will kick off at 3pm.