9 December 2023
GFA BOV Gozo Football League 2nd Division (MD 4) Kercem Stadium
Munxar Falcons FC: 1
St Lawrence Spurs FC : 0
64’ (1-0) Samwel Muscat
Munxar F:
J. Micallef, K. Borg, P. Parnis, E. Bugeja, K. Farrugia, N. Mifsud, N. Mercieca, M. Zammit, S. Muscat, O. Spiteri, V.G. Soarez Souza, K. Mizzi (K. Mizzi 69)
St. Lawrence S:
J. Xiberras, J.K. Farrugia, N. Haber, J.M. Portelli, C. Grima, A. Carvalho, J. Grima, V.J. Saliba, M. Dingli, J. Saliba, D.P. Rapa (J. Formosa 78).
In the first match from Match-Day 4 of the BOV Gozo Football League of the second division, Munxar Falcons earned three precious points from a 1-0 win over St Lawrence Spurs and with the points obtained they remain unbeaten in the campaign and retained the possibility to be among the challengers for promotion.
Munxar’s win was hard-earned as they conceded St Lawrence’s play for long stretches and the Falcons remained in contention mainly due to some decisive saves by goalie Joel Micallef who denied the Spurs from taking the lead on more than one occasion. However, Munxar recovered from the difficult period and prevailed over their opponents during the final stages so that the win could have been obtained with a larger margin.
Timeline:
The two sides tried hard to produce offensive play due to the difficult weather conditions and for most of the first half, the two goalkeepers were not called to make any difficult interventions. However, St Lawrence increased their efforts and during the final stages of the first half, they could have easily opened the score.
36’ St Lawrence’s Jams Grima had a good strike from outside the area that was saved with difficulty by Munxar’s goalie Joel Micallef.
42’ The same goalkeeper denied St Lawrence from scoring with a fine intervention to lock a shot from close distance by Ayesller Carvalho.
44’ St Lawrence was again dangerous but a header from a good position by Mark Dingli following a cross from the left flank by Jurgen Mario Portelli missed the target.
HT (0-0)
Second Half
St Lawrence maintained their momentum after the beak but they continued to be erratic in their finishing and found it very difficult to convert their territorial superiority into goals. Munxar managed to recover and came out of their defence after the hour mark, so they opened the score and administered the lead until the end of the encounter.
14’ St Lawrence missed a good scoring opportunity when Ayesller Carvalho ran towards Munxar’s area. Still, his final shot was well blocked by goalie Joel Micallef and the defence cleared the ball from the danger area.
18’ Munxar went very close to open the score when Vitor Gabriel Soarez Souza passed St Lawrence’s defence from the left-hand side and his low pass Nathaniel Mercieca fired towards goal but central defender Christian Grima avoided a certain goal when cleared from the goalmouth with the goalkeeper beaten.
19’ Munxar were again dangerous but a header by Neil Mifsud was partially saved by goalie Joel Xiberras and defender Christian Grima recovered in time to clear the ball from the goalmouth.
23’ (1-0) Munxar took the lead through a direct free kick from a long distance by Samwel Muscat that surprised St Lawrence’s goalie Joel Xiberras.
33’ (post) Munxar went very close to scoring a second goal but a low shot from outside the area by Vitor Gabriel Soarez Souza was stopped by the post.
45+3’ St Lawrence’s goalie Joel Xiberras was well placed and denied Munxar from adding another goal when he partially saved an effort from close distance by Neil Mifsud and the keeper recovered in time to clear the ball before the same Mifsud could head towards an open goal.
45+4’ Munxar wet again close to double their lead but a good shot by substitute Luke Meilak was well saved by goalie Joel Xiberras.
FT (MF 1 – SLS 0)
Referee: Kankaras Igor
Asst. Referees: Luca Formosa, Mark Azzopardi
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