Labasa coach and national rep Jotivini Tabua is demanding more from her players despite their 2-0 win over Nadi in the opening match of the inaugural Rooster Chicken/Scoops Ice cream Women’s Battle of Giants in Suva today.
Tabua said the side had several scoring opportunities in the opening half of the match but the players failed to capitalise on them and piled pressure on themselves.
“The main plan was to win today’s game and gain three points. It was the first game and the players did not perform well and what we expected from the players. It was a tough game to play against a young Nadi team. They really gave us a hard time in the match.
“When we scored the first goal we went into the break and I asked the girls like what’s wrong? That wasn’t part of our plan. We aimed to score three goals in the first half and I kept encouraging the players.”
After leading narrowly by 1-0 at the break, Tabua revealed that she instructed the players to play attacking football and pressurise the young Nadi defence.
“I motivated them with the trust that in the second half the team will fight from which we managed to pull the second goal.”
She highlighted the Babasiga Lioness will work on all aspects of their game before they play Rewa tomorrow.
“I think there are a lot of areas to improve on ahead of the second match tomorrow. The whole team starting from the midfield lacked communication. We need to talk and make the right decision on the field.”
“We need to start scoring from every opportunity we get and we’ll go back and map a strong plan out for the next match.”
She also thanked the Fiji Football Association for hosting the women’s BOG which serves as a platform for developing young talents in the country.
“This is a history for the women’s team to take part in BOG and for me, being a player then coach, it wasn’t easy. We did not have such tournaments but I really appreciate the girls and officials giving their best today.”
“Normally we just took part in the league games and IDC but this is a big improvement from Fiji football creating another tournament like this and expecting more tournaments from Fiji FA.”
