THE Lautoka football team aims to win the Fiji Gujarati Inter District Championship again this year despite their first loss to Suva yesterday.
The sugar city boys have won their first three matches beating Rewa on Friday 5-0, they then defeated Navua 1-0.
Yesterday, Lautoka beat neighbours Nadi 3-0 but went down to Suva in their last pool match 0-1.
Boosted by four overseas-based players, Lautoka showed speed, technique, solid defense and teamwork for the past two days aiming for the main trophy that will be decided today.
Lautoka coach Ritesh Chauhan said their game strategy was simple and they wanted to keep it that way until the finals.
“We have won our first four games and we’ve always wanted to keep things simple and take one step at a time,” Chauhan said.
“We have been preparing well for this tournament and we know it won’t be easy but the boys have been doing well and we want to lift our standard to another level.”
Six teams took part in the three-day tournament that finishes today.
In 2014, the title has been circulating around Rewa, Nadi, Suva and Lautoka which shows the level of competition.
“It is exciting to see that none of the teams has ever kept the title in two years since 2014 and that shows competitiveness in the clubs,” Chauhan said.
Meanwhile, the results after the final rounds of pool games yesterday: Lautoka beat Nadi 3-0, Lami defeated Navua 1-0, Suva and Nadi drew nil-all, Navua beat Rewa 1-0 and Suva downed Lautoka 1-0.
The semi-finals and final will be held today at Nausori’s Ratu Cakobau Park.
