The Ba team won the Fiji FACT 2011 Cup in an exciting finish last week.
The team won 4-3 against a tough-fighting Tavua, keeping officials, teams and the spectators in a state of anxiety and excitement.
The excitement in the Ba camp was more pronounced, as the team appeared in a Fiji Fact final after long time, whereas Tavua has been a regular sight in final matches in recent years.
The teams were locked at Nil-all score at full-time and the two extra spells.
In the dreaded penalty shoot out, the men in black edged out Tavua by 4-3.
Ba’s goals came from Huno Fowler, Krishna Sami, Mosheem Khan and Faiyum Khan whilst Hugho Little John, Blair Konik and Shalvin Prasad scored for Tavua.
Fiji FACT 2011 kicked off to an interesting start last weekend with defending Champions Rewa, managed by School Boy Abbas Ali, starting their second campaign with 4-1 win over a young Navua side to seal the quarterfinal spot.
Hosted by New Zealand Fiji Affiliation of Football Club (NZFAFC) Inc, the annual tournament was played over two weekends from December 4.
In the last pool match, Rewa suffered a 2-0 loss at the hands of Ba, who qualified as pool winners with maximum points.
In their earlier pool match, Ba won against Rakiraki 4-2.
In Pool B matches, Afroz Kutti, who coached and captained Savusavu side, scored twice to record their first win.
Savusavu bowed out of the competition after being held to a scoreless Nasinu, which recorded further three points with a 3-0 victory over Nadogo.
The Nadogo team went on to beat Mohammed Alsam’s Vatukoula side by 3-1 to claim their spot in quarterfinals as Runners-Up to Nasinu.
Goals for Nadogo came through Feta Zumo, Kartik Kumar and Divak Narayan.
In Pool C matches, a new look Suva side, managed Lautoka Blues Veterans player Bobby Khan and coached by well known former Lautoka and National representative Epeli ‘Kosa’ Ragavatu, qualified as leaders with maximum points in three matches.
Suva had a comfortable 3-0 win against Seaqaqa.
In the first quarterfinal, the son of the once ‘cunning fox’ of Fiji Soccer former Ba and National striker Farook Janeman and Abdullah Bhamji scored a hat trick for Ba to send Shannel Prasad ‘Kido’ skippered Nadi side out of the Tournament.
Dinesh Chand coached Ba dominated most of the play. The team displayed professional football, simultaneously entertaining a great crowd.
Lautoka beat Nasinu in the quarterfinal.
The third quarter Rewa won by 2-0.
The last quarterfinal was thrilling with Nadogo creating havoc.
The much-experienced Tavua won by 5-0.
