Newly appointed Labasa coach Johan Leewai has praised his defenders for holding a strong Suva outfit goalless in Round 2 of the Digicel Fiji Premier League at the HFC Bank Stadium in Laucala Bay yesterday.
Leewai said after their 3-0 loss to Lautoka in the opening round, the message to the team was to play defensive football and put on a great show against a dominant Suva.
“We came not wanting to lose to Suva. I just started with the team on Monday and the target was to get a draw.”
“My aim is to work more with the boys this week but I’m very pleased with the boys for their performance. We came from a loss to Lautoka so we worked on our defence because we did a lot of wrongs there. Our transition from attack to defense was very important, like how we lost the ball and recovered from that which I feel we did well against Suva.”
“Suva had been dominating since the start of the year and we had to working on their pace. Our defenders stole the show and they gave in their all especially when Suva started to attack. The boys stood firm not allowing Suva to score.”
Leewai added the side will look to improve on their finishing ahead of their match against Nadi in Round 3 on Sunday.
“The boys are hard to find the net and we missed a lot of chances today. We have a lot of youth boys who are still trying to get into the system and we need to mold them well. Also, it all depends on the youth players turning up for training days which can help them and the entire team as well.”
