30 January 2021
GFA BOV Gozo Football League Division I – Match Day 5 Gozo Stadium
Victoria Hotspurs FC : 0
Nadur Youngsters FC : 1
73’ (0-1) Ederson Bruno Domingos
Victoria Hotspurs:
M. Grima, L. Grima, C. Mercieca, A. Azzopardi, J. Parnis (C. Attard), R. Ost Dos Santos, S. Bajada, D. Farrugia , O.G. Fernandes, J. Tabone (J. Pace), S. Attard.
Nadur Youngsters:
S. Sultana, M. Tabone, L. Tabone, I. Xuereb, M. Barbosa, C. Camilleri, A. Debrincat (L. Atzori), G. Farrugia (C. Debono), S Cassar (O.P. Bugeja), E. Bruno Domingos, G. Hili.
Nadur Youngsters had an excellent return from the force break of more than a month from competitive football and earned the full points at stake from a 1-0 win over Victoria Hotspurs. With these points Nadur moved to the third place on the table and with a game in hand.
This was an important match for both Nadur and Victoria as both teams were aiming to win this encounter to maintain their common ambition to be contenders for the title. The Hotspurs were coming from a defeat conceded the previous weekend in the match against Ghajnsielem, while Nadur could not afford to fall behind the top positions at such an early stage of the championship. Despite the importance of the encounter the two sides tried hard to take command of play and throughout the ninety minutes play was contested, the win could have gone either way and the outcome remained uncertain until the final whistle. The two defensive departments however had an excellent performance and had control of the respective strikers so that the serious actions at goal were rear and the match was decided from a free kick that was converted by Nadur during the last part of the encounter.
For this match Victoria Hotspurs had two payers missing due to a suspension but gave a debut to Brazilian midfielder Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes, while Nadur had striker Marcelo Barbosa who made a return after a spell with Hamrun Spartans. This was also the first competitive match for Nadur’s coach Pasquale Centofanti who replaced Andrea Ciaramella who resigned from his post at the beginning fo the year.
Timeline
Victoria Hotspurs seemed more aggressive during the opening stages of the match but as time passed by Nadur started to share play and also threatened Victoria’s defence on some occasions.
5’ The first serious scoring opportunity came from Victoria Hotspurs through a strike by Shaun Bajada but Nadur’s keeper Steve Sultana was well placed and neutralised the danger.
7’ In another good action by the Hotspurs, Christian Mercieca passed inside Nadur’s area to Jordi Parnis but the latter hesitated to conclude and he lost the opportunity to address the ball towards Nadur’s goal.
9’ Nadur replied through a shot by Ederson Bruno Domingos that was saved by Victoria’s goalie Mark Grima in two attempts.
11’ Nadur had another opportunity to create danger on Victoria’s goal but a free kick by Chris Camilleri ended high.
Play became much more contested while the two defensive departments continued to make it difficult to the striker of the two sides to create danger.
27’ Nadur’s Chris Camilleri had an attempt through an cross-sot that missed the target.
28’ The same Chris Camilleri delivered the ball inside Victoria’s area from a corner kick but the header by Nadur’s Luke Tabone ended high.
34’ Victoria Hotspurs could have capitalised better when Nsdur’s rear guard failed to clear the ball from the area following a corner kick by Shaun Bajada but Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes saw his shot on the run that ended away from Nadur’s goal.
35’ Nadur protested for a penalty following a contact in the area by Victoria’s Andre Azzopardi and Nadur’s Stefan Cassar.
HT (0-0)
Play continued to be well contested after the break but the actions at the two ends of the pitch became more rear as both Victoria and Nadur retained a strong protection to their respective area.
18’ Victoria’s Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes created the best scoring opportunity of the encounter for his side when he entered the area with a personal action from the left flank and from his low pass a shot on the run by Christian Mercieca ended away from goal.
25’ Nadur replied with a good action on the right flank created by substitutes Christian Debono and Owen Peter Bugeja, but the cross by the latter was not connected by Marcelo Barbosa and Andrea Debrincat.
28’ (0-1) Nadur scored the goal that at the end decided the issue through a spectacular direct free kick by Ederson Bruno Domingos which ended in the upper corner and did not give any possibility to Victoria’s keeper to save the danger.
39’ Victoria’s best opportunity to save the result arrived through an initiative by substitute Jason Pace who delivered a low cross inside Nadur’s area but central defender Luke Tabone recovered and cleared the ball before Victoria’s Christian Mercieca could arrive on the ball to hit towards goal from close distance.
FT (VH 0 – NY 1)
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic
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