The Fiji Bula Boys kick started their FIFA World Cup Oceania Qualifiers campaign to a good start after beating Solomon Islands 1-0 at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva.
Solomon Islands were dominant in the opening 10 minutes of the match, creating a handful of scoring attempts at Fiji’s goal.
The lone goal of the match came from the boot of captain Roy Krishna, who shot in a cross kick deep outside Solomon Island’s goal box for a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Fiji received a costly blow 39 minutes into the first spell, after Aporosa Yada was handed a red card for dangerous play, reducing the side to 10 men.
Fiji managed to hold their line despite being one player down, defending their turf until the sound of the hooter for halftime.
The Roy Krishna captained side came out stronger in the second half, keeping the visitors out of their half in the opening 10 minutes.
Fiji continued to hold their ground despite being a player short, heading into the last 30 minutes of the match with a 1-nil lead.
Roy continued to show great leadership skills, creating two scoring opportunities for striker Thomas Dunn but was unable to execute with a finish throughout the 60th minute.
Fiji’s keeper made a great save in the 73rd minute, when Solomon Islands took a shot at goal outside the box, maintaining their 1-nil lead.
Fiji had another chance of extending their lead after Krishna received an inside ball just inside Solomon’s goal box, but was unable to find the back of the next.
The match went into a 10 minute extra time, which saw the Solomon Islands camping inside Fiji’s half looking for an equalizer.
Despite Solomon Island aggressive attacks at Fiji’s goal, the Bula Boys managed to maintain their lead until the sound of the final hooter.
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