NADERA Panthers made it two from two in the Fiji National Rugby League Vodafone Cup yesterday with another convincing win after round two of competition.
Coached by former Fiji Bati star and rugby league legend Vula Dakuitoga, Nadera Panthers held on to defeat the Makoi Bulldogs 28-14 at Bidesi Park in Suva.
A match physical from the start went down to the wire as Makoi mounted a last minutes comeback after trailing behind scoreless after the first half.
However, they came to life minutes from fulltime, scoring three consecutive tries, questioning Nadera’s defense as tensions flared.
Nadera living by the words of Dakuitoga held on to the win thanks to their impressive defense and because time was on their side.
“One thing that our coach always tells us is to never show that we are tired. We live and play by those words every time we take the field. We should always look fit and never tired,” captain Penaia Nadakuni stated.
Nevertheless, Nadakuni admitted that Makoi tested them throughout the match.
“Makoi Bulldogs gave us a good game. They made a comeback in the last few minutes of the match, and I told the boys to just keep our defensive line tight and stay in the game.
“We have a lot of weaknesses to work on. We have talked about it after the match, there’s a lot of lessons learned too, we’ll go back, go over this game and prepare ourselves accordingly,” the captain added.
Nadera Panthers had beaten defending champions Vusu Raiders in round one 15-10.
Round two results: USP 26-20 Vusu Raiders, Navy 38-0 City Storm, Namosi 10 – 14, Davuilevu Knights, Kinoya 18-16 Lami, Serua 12-4 Veiyasana, Police 14-12 Army.
