The Digicel Fiji Futsal side’s aim of good exposure took a downturn after the hosts finished last in the battle of the Extra Supermarket Melanesian Futsal Cup at the Vodafone Arena yesterday.
Ahead of the tournament, head coach Jerry Sam wanted to use the tournament for the upcoming OFC Futsal Championship in New Zealand later this year.
New Caledonia proved too strong for the Fijians to beat the men in white 2-0.
The side recorded a 2-all draw against Vanuatu, defeated New Caledonia 6-3 and went down to the Solomon Islands 4-1 which cost its chances of a place in the final last night.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to score points through a few opportunities, so we will need to go back to the notebook and just work on the areas we lack in,” manager, Ronil Ram said after the game.
He said attack-to-defence transition is one of the main factors that cost them their last match.
“It’s just hard luck for us, we tried everything we could to catch up, but we were unable to pull through,” he said.
The visitors managed to slot in both of their goals in the first half and defended their line well throughout the second half.
“The boys came out stronger in the second half, but we were unable to penetrate the New Caledonian defence.
“They were able to score when the opportunity arose, and this really put a lot of pressure on the boys as we had to catch up to them. Ram said they would be returning to come with a lot of lessons learned from the competition as they build up for the OFC.
“We have learnt a lot from the competition as a whole, which has allowed us to have a better look at ourselves on where we lack in defence and attack.”
Ram gave credit to the New Caledonian side for giving them a tough game, pushing the national futsal side to their limits.
Meanwhile, Solomon Islands thrashed Vanuatu 5-1 to claim the title last night.
