EMOSI Mulevoro was the hero for the Fiji Bitter Suva side as he scored 10 points to help his team wrest the Farebrother-Sullivan Trophy from holders Nadroga 20-17 at Churchill Park in Lautoka yesterday.
The Kadavu lad, who relegated Kaminieli Neiqisa to the bench, was successful with two conversions and two penalties to guide his side to an important victory.
Mulevoro, who plays for the champion Navy side, was the architect of Suva’s win as he pushed Nadroga back with his clearing kicks and when he found space he cleverly chipped a number of balls behind the opposition’s line of defence.
Suva coach Salimoni Ravouvou was full of praise for the Naval officer, saying he showed yesterday what he could do when given an opportunity like this in a big game.
Ravouvou said while Mulevoro helped win them the game yesterday he still had a long way to go to reach his full potential.
“Yes, Mulevoro played well today (yesterday) but he still has a lot to improve on in his game,” Ravouvou said.
“He is still young and has a lot to learn and I believe he will continue to improve his game and become a better player in the future.”
Mulevoro opened scoring in this Farebrother battle in the sixth minute after he missed his opening kick just after two minutes of play.
The nippy flyhalf, after converting captain Samu Bola and Apisai Naqaliva’s tries in the second half, sealed victory with his second penalty in the 56th minute.
Nadroga tried hard to make a comeback in the last 20 minutes with coach Esala Nauga sending on his impact players Emosi Vucago and Jonetani Ralulu in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
While Vucago tried to ignite the Nadroga backline with his quick play-the-ball from the base of the line-outs, scrums and rucks he was cut down by some sure tackling from the Suva defence.
Suva halfback Aporosa Kenatale displayed a man-of-the-match performance as he managed to shut down the once reliable Sakiusa Gavidi before he disrupted Vucago’s second Farebrother outing with his spoiling tactics.
Kenatale combined well with his Navy teammate Mulevoro at first-five and they had excellent knowledge of each others moves as they were part of the Fiji Bitter Escott Shield winning Navy team last month.
Ravouvou said while he was happy with his team’s performance, he still believed they had room to improve.
“I cannot say we had a perfect game because there are areas of our game which still need to be improved,” Ravouvou said.