Pepes go down to Fiji in third match of Nations Cup

PACIFIC Island rivals Fiji and Papua New Guinea opened proceedings on Day 3 of the FairPrice Foundation Nations Cup at Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Singapore.
Fiji remains undefeated after they closed out a 60-40 victory while more injuries hampered PNG’s chance of a second win in the tournament.
Following the loss of their goal shooter Michelle Gietzel in their match against Singapore on Day 2 (Tuesday), PNG lost two WA players in the match – Lama Lua in the first quarter and then Richandra Kassman was stretchered off five minutes into the third quarter.
The two teams are familiar opponents and play a similar style of physical play. So it was always going to be a hard fight. Fiji found their rhythm as the game progressed and after a 29-23 lead at half time, they stretched ahead and dominated the final two quarters.
Fijian coach Una Rokoura said: “Our goal today was to slow down the game.
“We looked at PNG and their fitness level so we wanted to slow it down, move the ball around and this worked for us.
“We had a bit of inconsistency today; our subs in the last quarter didn’t work.
“We picked up towards the end which was good but we want the subs to come in as impact players and that didn’t happen.
“But overall I think we had a good match today.
“Our defensive structure stood strong and we stuck to our game plan.
“We always have a rivalry with our Pacific neighbours PNG.
“They have a new team, so do we but we know how each other play.
“Tomorrow (against Singapore) is one of the most important games for us so we want to go out there and play well. It will be about possession.
“Whoever utilises their possession will win the game.”
Mere Rabuka, captain for Fiji added: “We play PNG yearly for the Pacific Series and there is always a rivalry between the two Pacific nations.
“Tomorrow will be a different atmosphere, we’ll be on the losing side in terms of support but we’ll always give our best.
“They’ll come out firing as we had a close game at the World Championships.”
Co-captain for PNG, Winnie Mavara said: “We are now down to nine players with the three injuries.
“The girls that came on tried their best and hopefully we will be ready for tomorrow and everyone recovered.
“I know Malaysia will be a tough game tomorrow (today).
“We really wanted to win today, they’ve always beaten us (since 1995) and we wanted today to be our game.
“It’s hard when you have injuries as you can’t play the combinations you want and you have to get players into the game and encourage them when players are going down.
“Overall I am pretty impressed with our players and I am looking forward to the rest of the games this week.”
Fiji is now edging closer to a place in the title play-off on Sunday and will face Singapore today who will be their toughest challenge yet.
For PNG, they once again need to regroup and get back to winning ways against Malaysia in their next match.
PNG are currently fifth in the six-team tournament.