The Labasa football side survived a defeat against Navua on Sunday in round 13 of the Digicel Premier League with a goal from Christopher Wasasala in the dying minutes of the game.
Navua was leading the match via a goal from Mathew Charittar in the 67th minute but Wasasala with the equaliser in the 89th miniute.
Mathew Charitar had the hundreds of Navua fans who braved the rain on their feet when he perfectly timed a corner kick with a header to put the home side up 1-0.
There was little debutant Labasa goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau could do to save Charitar’s header.
Wasasala sneaked in for the equalizer following some miscommunication at the back by the Navua defenders.
It was a tit-for-tat battle as rain and windy conditions disrupted the flow of the game.
Players overran the ball on many occasions as small pools of water on the pitch restricted the ball movement.
As a result both sides opted for high balls at times but they didn’t get the result they were after in the opening 45 minutes.
The second half was delayed for 20 minutes to allow for drainage of water from parts of the artificial turf after a heavy downpour.
However, Navua was reduced to 10 men when Isake Naduvu was shown a red card after copping his yellow card in the 80th minute.
Four minutes later Labasa’s Sekove Naivakananumi was flashed a direct red card for unsportsmanlike conduct on Navua captain Arami Manumanubai.
With just a minute left to play, striker
Both sides have 13 points on the DPL table but Labasa is sixth with a better goal difference and Navua seventh.
In other results, Nadroga beat Ba 2-1, Nadi drew 1-1 with Lautoka, Rewa defeated Nasinu 2-1 and Tailevu Naitasiri held Suva to 1-all draw.
Labasa plays Nadroga while Navua will face Tailevu Naitasiri in round 14.