Lautoka Win B.O.G Title After 31 Years

Lautoka has won the INKK Mobile Battle of the Giants title after a lapse of 30 years. A goal each from Mohammed Shazeel and Cyrus Singh in extra time sealed the victory against Labasa. An elated Lautoka football president Abdul Kadir said the players would share the $15000 prize money plus a double up from the sponsors after ending the 30 years drought. “The prize money will be shared among the players and even the sponsors also said if we win the tournament then they will double it up.” ‘The players he said would receive a lot of incentives which they had promised them and they would honour them once they reached Lautoka. He said they would meet the executives to discuss the celebrations. “We will discuss the celebration plan in our executive meeting since we also have Inter-District Championship coming up in Suva. We will talk on the celebrations.” The last BOG victory the Sugar City celebrated was in 1985 when they defeated Rewa 3-0 in the final at then known National Stadium in Suva. Kadir added that there was a lot of preparation that needed to be done before the tournament and they did their part and the players rewarded them the win. “Some of our boys did not play as Peni Finau was red-carded in the semi-final, IlaitiaTuilau was injured, Edward Justin got injured while warming up. We had a setback but still we went all out to win.” He saluted the boys for a job well done.” Lautoka heroes Ali and Singh couldn’t hold back their emotions as they registered their first title with the blues. He said his father called him earlier today and demanded a goal as his Father’s Day gift. “This was my first win. I am very happy and very excited. “I wanted to dedicate this win to all the fathers in Lautoka, especially my father. He called me early in the morning and told me that it will be his biggest Father’s Day gift if I scored a goal today.” Singh thanked his family members for the support. “It is all for the fans of Lautoka. For my mom and dad at home and my sister who has always supported me. Coach Anjinesh Prasad who led the team to his first tournament said the message to the players was clear from day one. “Just stick to the game plan.”

He told the players that they should know what they were doing, supported each other, keeps the communication going and the result would be on their side.Labasa captain Taniela Waqa said they lost to a better team.“We knew it was going to be a tough 䃧쀀nal with all due respect to Lautoka. We deserved to be here and we gave a good showdown in the 䃧쀀nal. We could not capitalize on our opportunities and that’s football. Congratulations to Lautoka for the win,” he said.The Blues received $15,000 for the win while Labasa walked away with $6000.The player of the tournament went to Lautoka’s ZibrazSaheb with Shazeel taking out the player of the final award.Top goal scorers were Gabrieli Mataisuva and Ravinesh Karan Singh with five goals each.The golden glove award went to Labasa’s Akuila Mataisuva with team mate Ratu Anare scooping the new find of the tournament reward.