Viti Water Flow Lautoka FC was held to a 1-1 draw by a young Ba outfit in a Round 11 encounter of the Digicel Premier League at Churchill Park in Lautoka last Saturday.
The hosts were fi rst to get on the scoreboard in the 43rd minute after a beautiful through pass from Malakai Rakula saw youngster Muni Shivam Naidu neatly chip the ball over goalkeeper Tevita Koroi.
Lautoka led 1-0 at the break, but the visitors started the second spell attacking and were rewarded in the 51st minute
as experienced striker Samuela Drudru found the equaliser.
Defender Antonio Tuivuna was sent off in the 60th minute following his second booking of the match.
With an extra man advantage, Ba applied pressure and missed few golden chances in front of goal.
Replacement striker Sanaila Waqanicakau could have sealed the match in the 82nd minute for the ‘Men In Black’ as he was neatly set up by Aakash Sharma and only had to place the ball into the back of the net but he instead shot it wide over the cross-bar.
Top marksman Sairusi Nalaubu could not create chances for himself as he was heavily marked by young defenders Samuela Navoce and Emosi Navaba and had very little space to attack.
The draw extends Viti Water Flow Lautoka’s lead further on the table and they now have 23 points after 10 matches while Online IT Solutions Ba has 15 points after 10 games.
Lautoka will travel to Vanua Levu this Saturday to face unbeaten Labasa side at 1pm at Subrail Park in Labasa.
