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Lazy 11 too fast for Fiji’s young football stars

SportZone, 16 April 2018

Wellington’s Lazy 11 too fast for Fiji’s young football stars

Wellington’s Lazy 11 football team shot to the top of the Sunday Football League Division One table on the weekend thanks to a 7-2 victory over Levuka FC – a team that includes three players who have represented Fiji at Under-20 level.

Yesterday’s victory at Lower Hutt’s Fraser Park was due to Lazy 11’s physicality on the ball, solid defense, and the goal scoring efforts of four-goal-hero Danny Culling and Adam Brack-Sinnott, who scored a hat-trick. While Lazy 11 dominated the first half with sustained pressure and went into the break 3-1 up, the match could have been a different story.

A 20-minute all-out offensive launched by Levuka at the start of the second half saw them pepper the goalposts and crossbar with several near-misses and reduce the deficit to 3-2.

But any dream of a comeback was not to be. Lazy 11’s counter-attacks proved too much for the opposition defense. Levuka’s star centre-back Vineet ‘VK’ Singh was sorely missed, and the speedy right winger Culling was left one-on-one with the keeper on two occasions for the final two goals of his haul.

Culling said he thought a lot of the result came down to Lazy 11’s ability to win the ball and sustained offensive pressure early on. He gave credit to Levuka for a match that was a lot closer than the score indicated.

“Their finishing might not have been clinical today, but these guys have some serious skills.”

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Arnold Reddy of Levuka FC said the newly-formed team was intended to bring Wellington’s Fijian community together. Named after the first capital of Fiji at Levuka, the team strategy was to get some of the best Fijian footballers in Wellington playing together.

While the strategy hadn’t worked out at Fraser Park, Reddy said he was confident the team would develop into a force to be reckoned with for the league and upcoming tournaments.

In the previous week’s matchup at their home ground Te Whaea in Newtown, Lazy 11 beat last year’s title holders Lokomotiv Beer Quarter three goals to two. North Wellington and Tuskan Raiders rounded out the top three in Division One this week, each with one draw against the impressive Sudakas FC and one win apiece.

The Malaysian Cultural Society’s Harimau Wellington team followed Lazy 11 at Fraser Park, taking the lead in the fourth division after beating Wellington locals SVH 3-0 with some deft attacking play. The first goal of the match was a particularly impressive long-shot from the pitch’s right sideline to the top left corner of the goal.

In the second division, V-Well FC took the lead, with Marauders FC also performing well in a 5-2 victory over Valley FC Trust. In the third division, Shamrocks are firmly in the lead thanks to goal difference, following a 3-1 victory over Valley Soccer Friends at Te Whaea.

Thirty-six teams are currently competing in Wellington’s Sunday Football League, a community based 11 aside league founded over 40 years ago which has recently grown year-on-year. A full table of results and fixtures can be found at https://tinyurl.com/WSFL2018.

Next weekend’s action (April 22)

Next weekend’s Division One action features an exciting clash between Lazy 11 and Tuskan Raiders, followed by Levuka’s chance to beat last year’s champs Lokomotiv Beer Quarter, who have yet to put points on the board.

In Wellington Sunday Football League’s second division, a top-of-the-table clash between Marauders and V-Well will be one of the highlights as they vie for first spot.

The match to watch in Division Three will be Shamrocks vs Westwood United. Both teams have had a strong start to the season, and Westwood will be looking to knock Shamrock off the top of the table. In Division Four, the Malaysian Cultural Society’s Harimau (Tiger) Wellington take on Pirates FC.

ENDS

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