4 December 2021
GFA BOV Gozo Football League Division I (MD 8) Gozo Stadium
Ghajnsielem FC : 1
Nadur Youngsters FC : 2
33’ (0-1) Judivan Flor Da Silva
45+1’ (1-1) Johnny Camilleri
64’ (1-2) Marcelo Barbosa
75’ (red card) Kevin Farrugia (GHJ)
86’ (red card) Keith Borg (GHJ)
Ghajnsielem FC:
A. Parnis, K. Borg, A. Xuereb (K. Grima), D. Farrugia, S.F. Bajada (M. Bezzina), S. Attard, K. Farrugia, J. De Sousa Ferreira, L. Grima, I. Nedeljkovic, J. Camilleri (R. Watanabe).
Nadur Youngsters:
S. Sultana, L. Moreira, J.M. Vella, I. Xuereb, J. Zammit (G. Farrugia), M. Barbosa, S. Cassar, E. Bruno Domingos G. Hili, G. Muscat, J. Flor Da Silva (J. Parnis).
Nadur Youngsters obtained three decisive points with a 2-1 win over their main challengers for the title Ghajnsielem so that the Youngsters increased their lead over the same Ghajnsielem to six points at the beginning of the second round of the championship.
Nadur’s win was deserved as they were more offensive in their play. Nadur were well deployed at their defence and conceded few opportunities to their opponents to create danger. Moreover, Nadur’s midfield had an impressive work rate where Stefan Cassar, Joseph Mario Vella and Ederson Bruno Domingos were always in the heart of the action by recovering the ball and also by providing offensive actions to strikers Judivan Flor Da Silva and Marcelo Barbosa. Nadur could have ended the first half in the lead but ended up conceding Ghajnsielem’s equaliser seconds before the break. Nadur showed character in the way that the managed to come out of the difficult moment during the opening minutes of play of the second period, regained the lead and administered play until the final whistle, particularly by taking advantage of two extra players on the field during the last part of the encounter.
Ghajnsielem were considered as underdogs prior to this direct clash as they were coming from an unexpected defeat in their previous match of the championship and could not start the match with their best formation. The Blacks had Jhon Arboleda Valencia missing due to a suspension, skipper Kenneth Mercieca was not part of the players list due to an injury while Ryota Watanabe started the match from the reserves bench. Ghajnsielem had a prudent approach and tried to neutralise Nadur’s territorial supremacy so that they remained in contention until the end of the encounter. The Blacks managed to take the break with more confidence as they scored an equaliser and also had a very good start to the second period but they compromised their possibility to challenge for a positive result by having two players who were sent off during the last part of the match. With this result Ghajnsielem suffered a setback in their chances to be serious challengers for the title.
Timeline:
Nadur took command of play during the early stages of the encounter and could have scored an early goal but Ghajnsielem shared more play as time passed by so that play took place mainly in the midfield.
5’ Nadur’s Judivan Flor Da Silva produced a personal action outside Ghajnsielem’s area but his short was weak and goalie Adrian Parnis saved without difficulty.
8’ Ghajnsielem’s keeper was well placed and neutralised a low shot by Marcelo Barbosa following a personal action inside Ghajnsielem’s area.
27’ Nadur missed a good scoring opportunity when Marcelo Barbosa delivered an inviting cross towards Ghajnsielem’s goalmouth form the right flank but Stefan Cassar lifted the ball over the crossbar from close distance with an open goal at his mercy.
33’ (0-1) Nadur opened the score when a cross by Marcelo Barbosa from a short corner action surprised Ghajnsielem’s defence and Judivan Flor Da Silva headed the ball easily in goal.
40’ The Youngsters operated a counter break and Ederson Bruno Domingos released Joseph Zammit who was unmarked so that the latter controlled without pressure but concluded high from an ideal position.
42’ An attempt directly from a free kick by Nadur’s Marcelo Barbosa ended just over Ghajnsielem’s goal.
45+1’ (1-1) Ghajnsielem levelled the score when Igor Nedeljkovic delivered a cross inside Nadur’s area from the left flank, a header by Shaun Attard almost surprised goalie Steve Sultana who tried to kick the ball off the line and from the resultant melee Alberto Xuereb prolonged in front of the goalmouth and Johnny Camilleri was at the right placed to push the ball in the net with a tap-in.
HT (1-1)
Second Half
Ghajnsielem came out very aggressive after the break and tried to maintain the momentum after scoring the equaliser. However, Nadur resisted well and they soon regain some superiority in the ball possession so that the match continued to be quite interesting.
40sec Nadur almost risked to commit an own goal when the defender Ian Xuereb hit badly in an attempt to clear a cross by Igor Nedeljkovic but goalie Steve Sultana made a difficult intervention to punch away the ball from the goalmouth.
4’ Ghajnsielem protested for a red card following a contact between Nadur’s Marcelo Barbosa and Sam Frank Bajada away from the action.
.8’ Ghajnsielem once again protested with the referee for a penalty when Alberto Xuereb ended on the floor when he tried to enter the area with a personal action.
19’ (1-2) Nadur regained the lead when Marcelo Barbosa passed inside Ghajnsielem’s area with a personal action on the right flank and concluded in goal with a fine shot towards the far post that ended out of the reach of the goalkeeper.
Ghajnsielem’s reaction was sterile as Nadur continued to hold control of play.
30’ (red card) Ghajnsiellem were reduced to ten players when Kevin Farrugia was shown a straight red card for a foul on Joseph Zammit in the midfield.
36’ Nadur could have added another goal but Ederson Bruno Domingos hesitated to conclude after receiving the ball inside Ghajnsielem’s area so that the defence recovered and cleared the danger.
Ghajnsielem increased their efforts during the dying moments.
41’ (red card) Ghajnsielem ended playing with nine players when Keith Borg was shown a second yellow card for a foul in the midfield on Stefan Cassar.
The Blacks kept insisting despite playing with nine players.
45+2’ Nadur’s goalie Steve Sultana left his position in time to punch away a long ranged pass aimed towards Igor Nedeljkovic who tried to put pressure on the goalkeeper.
45+3’ (goal disallowed) Nadur operated a counter break through Stefan Cassar. The same Cassar had his lob from long distance that did not reach the target but Marcelo Barbosa followed the action, took the ball and placed into an open goal. However, the goal was disallowed after for an offside infringement.
45+4’ Ghajnsielem went closest to level the score but a curling shot by Shaun Attard ended just wide.
45+6’ Nadur went again close to seal the win with another goal but a lob by Marcelo Barbosa following a counter break was neutralised by Ghajnsielem’s goalie Adrian Parnis.
FT (GHJ 1 – NY 2)
Referee: Matthew Degabriele
| DIVISION I | |||||||
| Standings | |||||||
| 04/12/2021 | P | W | D | L | F | A | PTS |
| NADUR Y | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 4 | 22 |
| GHAJNSIELEM | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 16 |
| KERCEM A | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 17 | 15 |
| XEWKIJA T | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 21 | 10 |
| VICTORIA H | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 8 |
| SANNAT L | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 8 |
| ORATORY Y | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 7 |
| SK VICTORIA W | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 3 |
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