Wily Oceania Fibreglass Navua coach Saiyad Ali masterminded Navua’s plan as they defied all odds to end Extra Supermarket Rewa’s unbeaten run (locally) yesterday.

Navua scored an upset 1-0 win to open their Digicel Fiji FACT tournament campaign at Subrail Park, Labasa.

Rahul Krishna responded in the 32nd minute from a follow up header by blasting home Navua’s lone goal from inside the 18-yard box.

Ali told SUNsports that the game plan worked in their favour because they disturbed Rewa’s flow in attack.

He commended his players for sticking to the game plan.

“Rewa is a champion side and they took us to the wire,” Ali said.

Rewa utilised their possession based game pattern and kept Navua on their toes in the first half.

Ali said the win has given them the right platform to build on their performance with Extra Supermarket Labasa and Nasinu next on their game schedules.

“Labasa is a quality side and they play through their home support, so we will do the talking in the field,” he said.

Ali said beating the tournament favourites, shows their desperation to win the Fiji FACT title.

Rewa coach, Rodicks Singh, was satisfied with his team’s effort despite the loss.

Singh said they controlled the game well and dominated it throughout the 90 minutes.

“We controlled possession well but only could not defend a set-piece move from Navua, leading to their goal,” he said.

He said their long travel from Viti Levu and back from the Oceania Football Confederations (OFC) Champions League had taken its toll on their performance.

“We take the defeat but we will bounce back with two games remaining,” he said.

When approached on the do-or-die situation they were at Singh said they have the players to turn things around and win against Nasinu and Labasa.

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