Wanderers, St Lawrence match abandoned due to flooding

GFA BOV Gozo Football League Division II (MD 3) Kercem Arkafort Stadium

SK Victoria Wanderers : 0

St Lawrence Spurs FC : 0

61’ (match abandoned) flooded pitch

SK Victoria W:

O. Xuereb, N. Camilleri, A. Refalo, J.W. Meilak, A.J. Obaje, E. Zammit, S. Harland, S.F. Bajada, O. Fenech, N. Vella, J.G. Vella.

St Lawrence S:

C. Mercieca, M. Dingli, G. Portelli, A. Haska, V.J. Saliba, L. Portelli (J.M. Portelli), J. Grima, D. Micallef, J. Saliba, W. Hili, J. Axiak.

The match between SK Victoria Wanderers and St Lawrence Spurs was abandoned just after the hour mark as the field of play became flooded due to the heavy rain when the score was still at a stalemate.  The remaining half hour of play is now scheduled to be played on 20 December 2022.

The two sides came out for this match aiming to obtain the win as the Wanderers are seeking to keep close to the leaders while the Spurs needed to obtain the first win in an attempt to avoid the bottom place on the table.  As a result, the match turned out to be well contested where the strikers were often erratic and missed the beat-scoring opportunities so that the outcome of the encounter remained uncertain.  Based on the sixty minutes of play, the Spurs confirmed the improvement expressed in their previous match, while the Wanderers seem to be conditioned by the pressure to recover their gap from the leaders at such an early stage of the campaign.

Timeline:

Play during the opening minutes was quite balanced as the two sides seemed motivated to take command of the play.  As time passed by the Wanderers increased their momentum and saw more of the ball but St Lawrence’s defence was well organised and most of the time they kept the danger away from their area.

13’ St Lawrence created the first scoring opportunity but an effort by Alen Haska ended away from goal.

24’ The Wanderers went close to scoring through a header by Aud-Gustine James Obaje following a corner kick by Joseph George Vella that ended over the crossbar.

28’ St Lawrence’s goalie Courtney Mercieca was well placed and managed to save a close-ranged header by Sam Harland following another corner kick by Joseph George Vella.

31’ The Wanderers were unlucky when an attempt directly from a free kick shaved the crossbar and ended high.

45+1’ St Lawrence’s goalie made another difficult save to block a good header by Joseph George Vella following a corner kick by Owen Fenech,

HT (0-0)

Second Half

Play during the second period became more contested as the Spurs increased their efforts and started to share more play but the actions on goal were rare as the pitch became flooded due to the heavy rain that was pouring since the beginning of the match.

9’ St Lawrence’s Alen Haska had a cross-shot from the left-hand side that ended on the roof of the net.

16’ (match abandoned) the referee called the captain of the two sides and abandoned the encounter due to the flooded pitch.

61’ (SKVW 0 – SLS 0)

Referee: Jason Portelli