A star-studded Suva outfit has won the 2023 Extra Supermarket Futsal Inter District Championship (IDC) title outclassing an experienced Nadi 6-2 in the final at the Vodafone Arena in Suva today.
Just two minutes into the match, Suva made a quick change in their goalkeeping. Shameet Kumar was taken off the court after sustaining a sprained ankle and in order to avoid any further injury coach Vivek Nadan fielded in replacement goalkeeper Kitione Baleloa
Nadi playing in their first Futsal IDC final came out firing through Suva striker Rusiate Matarerega, testing replacement keeper Baleloa who brilliantly headed the ball away on two occasions.
Suva pivot Krishneel Singh came close enough to open the account but Nadi’s Junior Wanetatha crashed into an empty goalmouth to clear the ball away.
Yet, an undeterred Singh finally shook the net for Suva when he perfectly collected a through pass from Captain Suraj Chand and found the back of the net in the fourth minute.
Nadi tried to respond through Arav Nadan in an empty Suva goalmouth but his shot went inches away from the right bar.
Two minutes later, the atmosphere in the court intensified when Suva continued to launch attacks keeping Nadi goalkeeper Mohammed Mobeen at bay.
Chand collected a wide pass from nippy Ravneel Pal and took a power pack short as Nadi’s Mohammed Shalmeen came in to save the goal but in his attempt, he scored an own goal giving Suva a 2-0 advantage while
Match official Ronil Chand gave a stern warning to Suva’s Rajneel Singh to cut out his argument with Nadi players.
The game was held for a short while as Suva’s Aman Naidu needed some medical attention on the court before he was replaced by Sunny Deol in the 15th minute.
Late in the first half, Nadi coach Vikash Prasad opted to pull out an injured Shafeem Buksh and replaced him with Mohammed Kafoa to keep their play tact.
The Capital City boys led 2-0 at the breather.
Upon the commencement of the second stanza, Nadi tried hard to make a powerful comeback but all their attempts through Rusiate Matarerega, Aisea Codro and Christopher Kumar were denied by an alerted Suva goalkeeper Baleloa.
Suva kept their strong dominance throughout and in the 24th minute, an impactful Deol pounced on a wide pass from Singh while Nadi goal mouth remained open as the goalkeeper tried to collect himself from the floor.
What went from bad to worse for Nadi was when Deepal Singh, Aman Naidu and Rajneel Singh scored three goals in a span of eight minutes after catching the Nadi players napping and sunk the visitor’s hope of making a comeback in the match.
However, a minute later, Naidu copped a yellow card for bringing down Nadi’s Wanetatha.
The green machines received a free kick which Mohammed Shalmeen took but it deflected off Singh in the 32nd minute.
Match official later flashed a yellow card to injured Suva goalkeeper Kumar for questioning the referee’s decision from the bench.
Nadi fought hard and managed to bounce back late in the match as Wanetatha got their opening goal before Shalmeen scored their second goal from a direct free kick in the 35th minute.
The teams:
Suva: Shameet Kumar (GK), Aman Naidu, Suraj Chand (C), Krishneel Singh, Ravneel Pal, Kitione Baleloa, Sunny Deol, Rajneel Singh, Samisoni Rakuro, Deepal Singh, Shivnal Prasad, Justin Kumar, Krishneel Shekar.
Nadi: Etuate Kaveni (GK), Shafeem Buksh (C), Mohammed Ayman, Mohammed Shalmeen, Mohammed Arian, Rokotupou Botenakadavu, Rusiate Matarerega, Aisea Codro, Christopher Kumar, Junior Wanetatha, Arzal Rahiman, Arav Nadan, Mohammed Kafoa, Abdul Mobeen.
