FRIENDS United FC from Nasinu are through to the play-offs of the National Club Championship after a steady rise in the Southern Zone qualifiers on Friday and Saturday.
They topped Pool A after they beat Lami Rangers 7-1 in their first match on Friday and drew one-all with the Pacific Specialist Healthcare Combine Brothers yesterday.
With their advance into the play-offs, coach and captain Nitan Kumar shared how the team’s efforts were commendable.
“I’d like to thank the Almighty for the strength He has given us and the guidance for the team’s victory,” Kumar said.
“It’s not a victory, it’s a draw and we qualified for the next round.”
“They did their part and they just gave their 100 per cent.”
“It was very amazing to see my boys just come up as victors and qualified for the next round.”
Getting this far was not an easy feat to achieve for the Nasinu side, as they had to juggle work and time on the field.
He said the team faced difficulties in finding a ground to train at, work obligations and having a majority of its players called up for district and national duties.
“We would never gather together like a team,” he explained.
“In Suva, it’s very hard to get a ground for training so we got eight futsal players who are part of the Fiji team and Suva futsal team and the rest are former district reps.”
Sorting themselves through the competition and heading into the play-offs, Kumar admits a lot of improvement is needed.
“There is a lot of room for improvement, we are still learning, we are not playing as a unit because most of the boys are working, so it’s hard to get the boys together,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Combine Brothers team will face Tailevu Naitasiri’s Police FC today.
