Hotspurs obtain a deserved win in the derby

26 February 2023

GFA BOV Gozo Football League Division I (MD 15) Gozo Stadium

Victoria Hotspurs FC : 3

Oratory Youths FC : 0

16’ (1-0) penalty Ricardo Silva Faria

69’ (2-0) Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes

89’ (3-0) penalty Lucas Mancuso Lemos Santos Ferreira

Victoria H:

K. Barbara, D.C. Kassekar, O. Cremona (C. Caruana), O.G. Fernandes, J. Azzopardi, B. Said (L. Farrugia), N. Inguanez, L. Mancuso Lemos Santos Ferreira, S. Sillato, A. Debrincat, R. Silva Faria.

Oratory Y:

A. Brignoli, J. De Souza Ferreira, K. Hili, K. Farrugia (D. Atzori), H.H. Goncalves Barbosa, A. Xuereb, A. Azzopardi (M. Zammit), N. Sutic, N. Said (O. Xuereb), H. Muscat (K. Saliba), J Mijuskovic.

Victoria Hotspurs earned three precious points from a 3-0 win over Oratory Youths that they increased their lead over bottom placed Sannat to four points and at the same time, they reduced their gap from the same Oratory to just two points.  The Hotspurs will therefore look forward for the next four matches of the Play-Out to earn more points in an attempt to obtain at least one place better on the table and move out of the red zone.

This was the third derby match between the Hotspurs and Oratory in the championship and the two sides were aiming for the win as the previous two matches both ended in draws of four goals.  However, on this occasion, the Hotspurs were much more determined and held territorial supremacy for most of the encounter.  Victoria Hotspurs took the driving seat at an early stage of the encounter and produced more dangerous play than their opponents.  With this result, Oratory may compromise their safe position on the table as they are now at risk of ending up in second place from the bottom and will have to play the Play-Off against the runners-up of the second division to retain their first division status for another season.

Timeline:

Oratory Youths had an encouraging start and created more danger during the opening minutes but the Hotspurs took the lead from a penalty and for the rest of the first half play became much more balanced with potential scoring opportunities at the two ends of the field.

5’ Victoria’s goalie Kyle Barbara was called to make a difficult intervention to turn to a corner in an attempt directly from a free kick by Nikola Sutic.

6’ (protests for penalty) Oratory protested for a penalty when Neil Said ended up on the floor inside the Victoria area following a challenge with his direct opponent Dimitri Kassekar.

13’ The Hotspurs replied with a shot from a free kick by Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes but the ball ended high.

15′ (1-0) penalty The Hotspurs were awarded a penalty for a foul by Jefferson De Sousa Ferreira on Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes and Ricardo Silva Faria put his side in the lead with his shot from the spot kick.

20’ (protests for penalty) The Youths protested once again with the match official as no infringement was noted when Goncalves Barbosa ended up on the floor inside Victoria’s area following pressure by Nicholas Inguanez but the former ended up receiving a yellow card for simulation.

24’ Oratory could have created more danger when Goncalves Barbosa passed inside Victoria’s area with a fine move but his strike from an ideal position was blocked by the defence.

27’ Victoria’s Lucas Mancuso had a shot from outside the area that missed the target.

38’ The Hotspurs were again dangerous when Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes delivered the ball in front of the goal from a corner kick, but a close ranged header by Lucas Mancuso ended just wide.

43’ (protests for penalty) Oratory protested for a penalty for the third time when Goncalves Barbosa tried to reach the ball before Dimitri Kassekar but ended up on the floor so that the defence cleared the danger.

HT (1-0)

Second Half

Oratory tried to produce a reaction after the break but the Hotspurs were well organised and managed to keep the danger away from their area so that the latter also consolidated their lead with a second goal that arrived midway through the second half.

5’ The Youths had their first attempt of the second period through a header from a good position by Jovan Mijuskovic, following a cross by Andre Azzopardi, but the ball ended wide.

17’ Victoria’s Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes had a good attempt when the keeper was out of his position but the latter managed to save the danger to a corner.

23’ (goal disallowed) Oratory’s defence was surprised following a free kick by Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes and the ball arrived to Lucas Mancuso who netted from a close distance but the goal was disallowed for offside.

24’ (2-0) Victoria Hotspurs doubled the score in the following action when Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes defended the ball inside Oratory’s area with some difficulty, kept possession and netted with a low shot with the ball hitting the post before ending in goal.

34’ (possible goal) The Hotspurs went very close to add another goal when Oratory’s defence failed to clear the ball from there are and Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes won possession and tried to conclude with a low hot but the ball hit the post and was saved from the rebound by the goalkeeper among protests claiming that the ball has crossed the fatal line.

43’ (3-0) penalty The Hotspurs sealed the win when they were awarded a penalty for a foul by substitute Keith Saliba on Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes and Lucas Mancuso Lemos Santos Ferreira made no mistake with his shot from the spot kick.

45+1’ Victoria could have increased their lead when Olimpio Gabriel Fernandes entered the oratory’s area with a solo action but his low shot aimed towards the far post ended wide.

45+4’ Oratory could have scored a consolation goal but a shot from an ideal position by Nikola Sutic was blocked by Victoria’s defence.

FT (VH 3 – OY 0)

Referee: Philip Farrugia