BA once again stamped itself as the true champions of Fiji soccer after thrashing Suva 4-0 at Govind Park on their way to win the National Football League title for a record 18th time.
The Men in Black made it back-to-back Fiji Sun/GP Batteries NFL title victories and also qualified for the next edition of the O League.
It wasn't the only record set in front of about 3000 fans with Ba captain and stalwart Kiniviliame Naika going down in the history books of winning a record 39 titles for the Men in Black since his debut back in 1999.
Ba dominated the encounter showing force and class as the Gurjeet Singh-coached Suva side crumbled under the hot conditions.
The home team was on fire from the start, scored early and then demolished the Capital City side with a superior second half finish.
Suva seemed to be all gone when goalkeeper Emori Ragata collided with Osea Vakatalesau early in the second half and had to be rushed to the Ba Mission Hospital after suffering from epilepsy.
Strikers Sanni Issa and Ralph Sherwin were shut out by the Ba defenders and failed to bother goalkeeper Ratu Jone Gasaubalavu.
Suva coach Gurjeet seemed a disappointed man after the whitewash as his side failed to press on for the title race until the final round next week.
Gurjeet said they had got into Ba early on Friday to acclimatise to the conditions but this did not work.
He said the overall performance of his players was poor.
"Definitely very disappointed and that to losing by four goals," Gurjeet said.
"Overall the performance of the players was poor. None of them played well today. Looks like they did not want to win. We lost so much possession. We hardly took any shot at the Ba goal mouth.
"We came early to Ba to acclimatise to the conditions. The players had a good rest and we expected them to do well. But after the first goal they just collapsed."
Winning Ba captain Naika shied away from making comments to the media. Ba team manager Arvind Singh said Naika was a dedicated Ba player with district at heart.
"We must congratulate all the players as they played really well," Arvind said.
"It was a wonderful game. We missed a couple of top players but the others from the bench proved their worth. We are happy to defend the title."
"It's another record 18 titles. Ba will keep on setting the records in Fiji soccer. Naika's 39th title is another history for Ba. He has been a key player for Ba over the years and has been dedicated."
Malakai Tiwa, Mavileko Nakama and Vakatalesau scored for Ba. The home side's final goal was a deflection off Suva defender Samuela Vula as he collided with replacement goalkeeper Mesake Navitikula following a long range attempt.
Teams
Ba: Ratu Jone Gasaubalavu, Remeure Takiate, Jone Vesikula, Kiniviliame Nasika, Ronil Kumar, Osea Vakatalesau, Rinal Prasad, Malakai Tiwa, Marika Rabonakadavu, Tuimasi Manuca, Abbu Zahid.
Suva: Emori Ragata, Simione Maikali, Samuela Vula, Samuela Kautoga, Waisake Navanigasau, Sedrick Dutt, Nathan Shivam, Inosi Cava, Luke Ha Aterea, Ralph Sherwin, Sanni Issa.