Lautoka has increased its lead further in the National Football League after beating a spirited Nasinu outfit 3-0 at the tfl National Stadium.

The Shop and Save Blues now have maximum 15 points from their five outing in the competition.

But the win at Laucala wasn’t easy at all for the westerners as the young and energetic Nasinu outfit played gallantly in the second spell.

Striker Osea Vakatalesau opened the scoring early in the first spell and top goal scorer Kamal Hassan headed in the second for the Blues.

The visitors led 2-0 at the break but found the going tough in the second spell as Nasinu played a defensive game and disturbed all the Blues moves upfront.

Replacement strikers Valerio Nawatu and Salesh Sami Bula were heavily marked and given no space to create chances and score goals.

Coach Ravuama Madigi’s tactic to make changes upfront saw Nasinu putting the pressure on the Lautoka defence as well but good reflex saves by Alifereti Baleiloa denied the hosts.

Striker Apisalome Ravula failed to capitalize on two golden chances and looked double minded inside the Lautoka penalty box.

The Blues played without their star midfielder Alvin Avinesh and in a new step up, Leone Vurukania featured in central midfield while Samuela Kautoga was pushed upfront.

Vakatalesau nailed the final goal for Lautoka in added time to seal their fifth consecutive victory in the CJ Patel sponsored competition.

Nasinu coach Madigi was happy with the performance of his young brigade and said with more exposure, his team will become a tough nut to crack.

“We fielded a lot of young players in this match and it was a good learning experience for them.”

“Nasinu played very well in the second spell and we had the champion Lautoka side until the final minute when they finally scored their third goal.”

“Playing against Lautoka has given the boys a lot of exposure and with more experience this set of young and dedicated players will surely make Nasinu a very tough team in the near future.”

“Experience favored the Lautoka team and congratulations to them for the win” said Madigi.

The teams:
Lautoka- Alifereti Baleiloa, Samuela Vula (Valerio Nawatu), Samuela Kautoga, Malakai Waqa, Jone Vono Junior (Alvin Prakash), Kamal Hassan (Salesh Samy), Osea Vakatalesau, Semesa Nakosia, Marika Madigi, Lorima Dau, Leone Vurukania.

Nasinu- Tevita Evo, Robert Nair, Jone Roko (Usaia Vaibati) (Fabien Murray), Nitan Kumar, Pranil Chand, Bimal Pal, Apisalome Ravula, Jalindar Singh, Asaeli Coubuta, Vikash Reddy, Salesh Chand (Imanueli Robert).

Fijilive

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