Suva Coach Ravinesh Kumar says fatigue let to their downfall in extra time of their 4-1 loss to Lautoka in the second semifinal of the 2023 Courts Inter District Championship (IDC) at the HFC Bank Stadium last night.
Lautoka took the lead in the opening half through Sakaraia Naisua but veteran star Samuela Drudru equalised for Suva early in the second spell which resulted in the match going into extra time.
Kumar said they failed to match the speed of the Blues and the Capital City boys also dropped the tempo of the game after conceding the second goal.
“Last 10-15 minutes of the second half, we missed a lot of scoring opportunities,” Kumar told FijiLive.
“We just bounced back but failed to score more goals which resulted in extra time.”
“I feel the players were not that fit as well to play in the extra time and that was the major downfall of the team.”
“At the end of the day, Lautoka proved to be a better team. In the second extra spell, things were not working out and the only message was to keep possession and keep attacking but it didn’t work.”
“Lautoka won the ball and capitalised in the attacking third and scored. The second goal from Lautoka demoralised us and from our blunder Lautoka kept scoring.”
Meanwhile, Kumar has also confirmed that he will be flying back to New Zealand to rejoin his family after mentoring the Whites till the semifinal yesterday.
Lautoka will play neighbors Ba in the grand final at 3pm tomorrow.
