SUVA: The fourth week of Fiji’s national league saw leaders Lautoka continue their winning way with a 3-2 win over Nadroga, while Ba stepped up a gear to send a message to the rest of the teams with a 4-0 thumping of Nadi at Govind Park.
The Nadi-Ba return match looked headed for a stalemate until Luke Vidovi struck a minute before the break for Ba. The men in black were reduced to 10 men early in the second half after Waisea Nabenu was red carded for dangerous play but that did not affect Ba as they continued to apply pressure on the Nadi defence.
Josaisa Bukalidi was the player causing Nadi all sorts of problems. He scored Ba’s second goal then was fouled minutes later in the box with the penalty converted by Keni Doidoi to stretch the lead to 3-0. Bukalidi grabbed his second goal to finish the scoring near full-time.
Leaders Lautoka beat Nadroga 3-2 at Lawaqa Park to win their fourth game in a row. Lautoka went into the break 2-1 up after Nadroga squandered an early lead. Nadroga hit back with a goal from Abdul Fizal but Lautoka had the last say with the match winner in the final quarter.
In other results, Suva won away from home in the return match with Navua. Suva scored both its goals after half-time and showed good touches despite the wet conditions at Thomsen Park.
In the final match of the round, Rewa won a see-saw battle with Nasinu 3-2. Henry Dyer scored the match winner for Rewa after his team were down 1-2 in the second half.
Round 4 results
Ba 4-0 Nadi
Lautoka 3-2 Nadroga
Suva 2-0 Navua
Rewa 3-2 Nasinu