NIGERIAN Sanni Issa struck twice to hand Suva a deserving 4-1 win over minnows Savusavu in the opening round of the National Football League (NFL)competition yesterday.
The capital side despite missing some key players outplayed Savusavu which like previous years where unable to maintain composure and solid play in their opening match of the season.
The Gurjit Singh-coached Suva thrilled the northern fans with glimpses of some fancy footwork combined with neat low passes to exploit their opponents defence.
Experienced players like Isaa, school teacher Nathan Shivam and William & Gosling employee Sedrick Dutt led with example to guide Suva to the top of the Fiji Sun/GP Batteries NFL points table.
Issa scored the opener followed by Dutt's goal to give Suva a 2-0 lead at break.
Savusavu maintained high spirits and veteran Waisale Rasoki gave the young players some morale after pulling one back to trail 1-2.
But goals from Nathan and Isaa sealed the 4-1 win for Suva.
Suva coach Singh said although the boys took the first few minutes to settle down, they played well.
"You can never underestimate Savusavu because it is a good team too. "I also gave chance to the new boys to play and they performed well," he said.
"We take on Labasa (today) and we need to play our best as we expect a tough match."
Savusavu coach Manoj Lal praised his boys for putting up a good fight.
"We just finished the festive season so the boys are getting back into shape and considering that, I think they played very well," Lal said.
"We expect a good match against Nadi today and the boys are confident of a good game."