Nadi's FACT' turnover

Opinions / Analysis

BEFORE Sunday there was this distressing sense of incompleteness with Nadi Football.

After their emphatic 2-1 Fiji Fact final win over Suva at Churchill Park, the district made amends to months of insider bickering to the turnover for coaches to arguably a wagon full of faithful.

The district has finally waded out of the ‘murky waters’ to put the smiles on the faces of fervent, who thought this day will never befall the district.

The roar at the final whistle signaled the team was podium bound for its fifth Fiji Fact championship, the first they won in 1996 followed by the back to back, 2013, 2014 and 2016 titles.

And making them the most consistent of sides for in the last seven years.

It is though, the run-up to the grand finale that left the games followers in awe, besides who would’ve wagered on a team that had been labeled underachievers and had been struggling to find its form in the topflight action for a few years.

The luck of the draw for the opening match against the Fiji footballing giant, Ba had fans draw earlier demise of the team from the tournament.

Nadi lost 3-0, but they believed.

Cloaked with an aura of invisibility, they were playing seemingly at will, yet a bit of luck that rode their backs to qualify for the semifinal, it is what it is, as it is how the beautiful game sometimes plays out.

While fans were affixed with favorites Lautoka and Ba to reach the final, Nadi was quiet about their chances as when opportunity beckoned in the semifinal, they pulped host Lautoka, laced with six Fijian national team starters at their own game.

The 3-2 win had novice Nadi coach Parnesh Amarsee become from a student of Lautoka coach Kamal Swamy, who he admired, to turn the tactics to his advantage.

“I’ve learnt a lot from Kamal Swamy, when he was with Nadi, I owe him a lot for who I’m with coaching”, Parnesh said during the media briefing on Friday.

“But come the game day, we will be guiding our team to victory”.

Did he ever guide his young team to the final against Suva, who were an equal competitor, who lost without giving up a good fight.

Parnesh believed in the new players, who followed simple instructions and with the support of capped William Valentine, Rahul Krishna, Rusiate Matererega, Ame Votoniu and net-minder Vereti Dickson the team jelled in by the game.

It’s the commitment and the desire on the part of Nadi football core that has brought about the changes and the championship.

Much is attributed on the work on developing a resilient, positive outlook, and take steps every day to achieve success.