7 January 2024
GFA BOV Gozo Football League 1st Division (MD 10) Gozo Stadium
Qala Saints FC : 0
Nadur Youngsters FC : 2
30’ (0-1) Marcelo Jr Barbosa
90+3’ (0-2) Marcelo Jr Barbosa
Qala S:
O. Attard, N. Inguanez (S. Curmi 90+1), Jsph. Buttigieg (C. Vella 86), J.V. Ferrari Silva, L.B. Da Silva, M. Buttigieg (N.C. Njoku 68), L.M. Dos Santos, E. Buttigieg, J. Parnis, C. Mercieca, I. Nedeljkovic.
Nadur Y:
S. Sultana, J.A. Ferreira Dos Santos, I. Xuereb, M. Pereira Muniz, J.M. Vella, J. Zammit, M. Barbosa, S. Cassar (M. Said 83), G. Hili, G. Muscat, J.V. De Oliveira Florencio.
Nadur Youngsters obtained a 2-0 win over Qala Saints in a direct clash for the top of the table and with the points obtained they extended their lead over the same Qala to five points. With this win, Nadur continue to be the hot favourites to retain the title for another season, while Qala suffered a blow in their ambition to be serious challengers as they conceded their second consecutive defeat.
The match between Nadur and Qala was the main attraction of the weekend and the two teams lived up to the expectations as the outcome of the encounter remained uncertain until the final seconds of play. Both Nadur and Qala confirmed that they have the potential to challenge for the main honour but in the end, Nadur’s experience prevailed as they managed to put their heads in front at a delicate stage of the encounter and were resilient during the second period when Qala pushed forward in an attempt to recover the deficit. The reigning champions also punished their opponents with a second goal that arrived a few seconds away from the final whistle. Overall, the players on the field showed that the two coaches, Nadur’s Elton Vella and Qala’s Shaun Bajada, prepared well for this clash as the two sides were well-deployed and produced effective play.
In the end, the protagonists in Nadur’s win were undoubtedly goalie Steve Sultana who made a series of decisive interventions to deny Qala’s strikers from scoring, and striker Marcelo Jr Barbosa who scored the two goals of the encounter and also extended his leadership as the top soccer of the championship with twelve goals from ten matches.
Timeline:
Nadur came out to take control of play while Qala were more prudent and operated mainly with counter breaks. As a result, the match turned out to be quite interesting as both Qala and Nadur had the potential to break the deadlock.
7’ Qala went very close to open the score but a close-ranged shot by Igor Nedeljkovic was partially saved by goalie Steve Sultana and from the rebound, the attempt by debutant Christian Mercieca shaved the far post.
12’ Qala were again dangerous through an initiative by Jordi Parnis who entered Nadur’s territory but his low shot was neutralised by goalie Steve Sultana.
23’ Qala’s goalie Owen Attard was called to make an important intervention to turn to a corner an attempt directly from a free kick by Nadur’s Marcelo Barbosa.
30’ (0-1) Nadur opened the score when Stefan Cassar defended the ball outside Qala’s area and released Marcelo Jr Barbosa who entered the area and his low shot ended in the net despite the attempt of the goalkeeper to block the danger.
37’ Qala replied with an initiative by Lucas Matheus Dos Santos who passed inside Nadur’s area but from his cross the defence managed to deny Qala’s strikers from concluding towards goal with some difficulty.
41’ Nadur once again threatened Qala’s defence but an effort by Stefan Cassar following a clearance by the defence was neutralised without difficulty by goalie Owen Attard.
45+2’ The Maroons were dangerous through a low shot by Lucas Baretto Da Silva that was saved to a corner by goalie Steve Sultana.
HT (0-1)
Second Half
Qala came out for the second period determined to produce a reaction. During the opening stages, they held territorial supremacy and pushed their opponents to defend their territory with more players, but the Maroons found it very difficult to convert their play into attempts towards the goal. Nadur were not dangerous in their sporadic counter breaks so that for most of the time the actions on goal were very rare. However, the match became much more exciting during the final stages as Qala increased their efforts in an attempt to recover the score and Nadur found more space to operate their breaks.
13’ Qala went very close to level the score through an attempt directly from a free kick by Igor Nedljkovic, but Nadur’s goalie Steve Sultana maintained his composure and turned to a corner in style.
28’ Qala’s Igor Nedeljkovic could have created more danger when Nadur’s defence hesitated to clear the ball from their area but Qala’s striker failed to capitalise and his final attempt from close distance ended wide.
33’ Nadur’s goalie Steve Sultana was well placed to neutralise an effort by Emanuel Buttigieg following a corner kick by Lucas Matheus Dos Santos.
34’ Nadur’s goalie Steve Sultana denied Qala from scoring the equaliser when he made a decisive intervention to block a close-range shot by Igor Nedeljkovic following a cross from the right by substitute Nathan Chukwudi Njoku and from the rebound the same striker was denied a tap-in by the defence among protests for a penalty.
36’ Qala were again dangerous though a shot from outside the area by Nicholas Inguanez that got a deflection by the defence, but Naur’s goalie confirmed his excellent form and recovered his position in time to block the danger.
43’ Nadur could have created more danger but an attempt directly from a free kick by Marcelo Barbosa ended over the crossbar.
45+3’ (0-2) Nadur sealed the win by scoring the second goal which arrived following a counter break where Marcelo Jr Barbosa released Joao Vitor De Oliveira Florencio and the latter returned the pass so that Barbosa fired in goal from an ideal position.
FT (QS 0 – NY 2)
Referee: Darryl Agius
Assistant Referees: Duncan Spencer, Kurt Saliba
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