GLOBAL CARE Suva FC striker Gagame Feni’s hat-trick helped Suva overcome Blue Gas Navua FC 3-1 in their opening match of the 2026 Extra Battle of the Giants tournament at 4R Stadium at Govind Park in Ba yesterday.
Navua suffered a major setback when captain Thomas Dunn was shown a straight red card for using foul and abusive language towards match officials, forcing his side to play with 10 men for the remaining minutes of the second half.
Vanuatu import Feni credited teamwork for Suva’s comeback victory.
“I reminded the Suva boys to work as a team, work as a unit and play for each other.
“We knew the game would be tough. First games are always tough, but I just reminded them to concentrate,” Feni said.
Navua head coach RodickS Singh was frustrated with the result but remained determined to see his side fight for a place in the semi-finals in today’s second pool match against Nasinu, despite Dunn being suspended.
“Not the result we wanted, but disappointed with how we were treated in this game.
“If you look at it, Thomas Dunn getting a red card and the boys didn’t recover from it. Why he got the red card was an issue, and what incident led to him getting the red card is another issue.
“Playing with 10 men was tough.
“This loss is going to make us more hungry to make it to the semi-final. We lost a bit of momentum today with losing a player, but we will not back down,” Singh said. Navua started strongly and took the lead through Walter Leoru in the first half to go into the break 1-0 ahead. However, Suva regrouped after halftime and turned the match around, with Feni scoring all three goals to complete his hat-trick and secure the victory for Suva.
