Saturday April 5, 2008, will go down in the history books of Labasa Soccer Association as one of the most memorable and cherished moments.

This is because the Babasiga Lions dethroned Ba on the day and ended its 14-year CVC drought.

Victory was even sweeter because the champion status was gained on enemy territory and in front of opposition fans who appreciated the efforts of the visitors as the hosts failed to click on home soil.

The victory coinciding with the religious Hindu ceremony of Ram Naumi was classed and compared to the festival itself because Lord Rama served 14 years in exile and returned home, bringing glory to the people of Ayodhya.

So much so the Vodafone Labasa soccer side also broke its 14-year CVC jinx and returned home victorious to an overwhelming reception at the Waiqele airport and in and around the central areas in Labasa.

There was a war of words between the officials of the two teams before the series kicked off at Subrail Park in Labasa.

The hosts won 1-0, thanks to the boots of Pita Bolaitoga.

The goal was controversial in that the Ba bench claimed it was scored from an offside position.

 Ba soccer boss Rishi Kumar went public and criticised match officials and the Fiji FA for poor organisation, adding there weren’t any medics in the ground to attend to injured players.

The second leg of the series had to be played after two weeks to allow the Vodafone Men In Black Ba to feature in the O League competition.

There was so much excitement leading to the second match as soccer fans from all across the country braced for an interesting battle at Govind Park in Ba.

Ba after its poor performances in the O League did not look strong on paper as the hosts had an added burden of winning by two clear goals in order to retain the CVC title.

When the moment did arrive, thousands of fans flocked to Govind Park to witness the encounter, which did not provide much spark in the first spell as both teams failed to live up to expectations.

That all changed in the 40th minute when Maciu Dunadamu sneaked in to score the first goal of the match.

Dinesh Mudliar buried Ba’s hopes in the second spell and ensured the title would return to the friendly north after solid 14 years.

Youngster Maviliko Nakama pulled one back in the extra time for Ba but perhaps it came late as the Labasa players looked to the skies and went into a frenzy when referee Rakesh Varman blew the final whistle.

29 year old Labasa president, Abinesh Kumar classed the hero of the team due to his efforts of getting all the players back in the team and administering the team so well was emotional and tears of joy flowed freely amongst the players and officials after the match.

“I am speechless right now and just do not know how better to express my joy today,” Kumar said.
“This win is for the people of Labasa and the soccer-loving fans in the country, who have been supporting us all throughout.

“It’s a personal achievement for me as an administrator and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

“The boys had played their hearts out and full credit goes to them and our coach Bal Sanju Reddy for his commitment and efforts in preparing this team very well”

“We were a force in the ’90s but our image faded in recent times and this really concerned me as a Labasa citizen and I decided to go forward and help the association and was overwhelmed with the support and encouragement I received from the people of Labasa.

“Soccer is my passion and I played soccer from a very young age and represented Labasa in the age group competition then moved and played for Seaqaqa for two years and came back and featured for the Labasa team in 2002 at the sweeper’s position but after a few games I opted out because of work commitments.

“From there on, I have been actively involved in administration been the manager of the Labasa team in 2002-2003 and the founder of Tropik Board football club.”

Kumar, the youngest president in the country, just took over the reigns of Labasa football last season and secured the releases of all Labasa players in other districts and took them all back home to represent their own district.

This worked and the Babasiga Lions got back into fame and played the final of the Fiji FACT tournament last year and won the NEWWORLD National Soccer League title after a lapse of 16 years.

The PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountant, who is now based in Suva, has to juggle work with football and is thankful to fellow administrators and his family for being his strength always.

Players like Thomas Vulivuli, Maciu Dunadamu, Henry Dyer, Apisalome Turuva, Pita Bolaitoga, Sandeep Nair, Dinesh Mudliar, Epeli Deyama and Penaia Bale combined well to form a lethal outfit.

This season former Suva goalkeeper Azmat Begg and Lautoka duo Samuela Kautoga and Taniela Waqa joined the Lions to add more firepower to their attack.

Victorious captain Pita Bolaitoga was on cloud nine after the victory and thanked the all mighty for giving him and his team the strength, wisdom and the courage to win the CVC title.

“This win is really special to me and the boys and will always keep it close to our hearts as our team has once again retained the champion status in Fiji soccer,” he said.

“The Ba president after their IDC win last year had said they were going to rattle us in the CVC and it was this word “Rattle” that placed a huge challenge on our boys and gave us the motivation to go the extra mile in preparing for the CVC because we wanted to show them that we would be a better team.

“Anything is possible in the game of soccer and to use such a word like rattle is not good but we took things positively and proved to the Ba president that we were the better team after the CVC series as we snatched the title away from them yet we did not defame or harm their emotions at all.”

“We will not celebrate big  but will shift our focus to the National League which we won last year after 16 years and will be all out to retain our title and more importantly try to feature in the O League and market our Labasa team internationally also.”
 
With the CVC and National title already in the bag for the Labasa team, it will be interesting to see how the team fares in its defence of the league title this year as well as in the three major tournaments that are to follow with the Fiji Bitter FACT coming up first in May.

Fijilive

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