League Match 3

Ghajnsielem - 3 vs Nadur Youngsters - 4

- by Saviour Attard

A last gasp goal by substitute Charles Mercieca helped Nadur beat Ghajnsielem 4-3 last Sunday at the Sannat Ground. The former blacks defender came off the bench late to score the winning goal deep into injury time heading on goal a pin-point cross by Alex Simoncic on the far post. Nadur now lead the standings with maximum points from three matches.

Both teams provided an extremely entertaining match despite the strengh of the wind. Nadur seemed to have had the game in their hands after the first period but Ghajnsielem struck back twice to bring the game level in the second half. The game looked to be heading for a draw until Mercieca came for Nadur's rescue.

Ghajnsielem took an early lead through a well worked goal by Joseph Attard after 15 minutes. the Blacks striker pounced on a bad clearance by Nadur's defender Peter Buttigieg, dribbled the goalie and placed the ball in the net. But the whites replied to this immediately from an Alex Simoncic corner that found Claudio Antunes unmarked. The Brazilian headed cooly on goal to pull the game level. This goal was what Nadur needed and on the half hour mark they took the advantage. Ghajnsielem's rearguard cleared the ball on the edge of the box where Josef Buttigieg was ready to rifle the ball past keeper Joseph Grima. Ghajnsielem tried to react to this and created some good chances with their Brazilian striker Thiago Dos Santos being the most dangerous with an over head kick that went wide. Just Before the half-time break Nadur managed to take a two-goal lead. After winning a free kick from the left, Alex Simoncic's insidious shot was partially saved by Grima in Ghajnsielem's goal and Kyle Russell was quick to tap the ball in.

Russell's goal gave Nadur a two goal cushion to control in the second half. The whites objective was to control play and guard their lead to win the three points. However Ghajnsielem managed to pull one back from an extremely controversial goal. Thiago Dos Santos marched through the left wing and his cross-shot forced the Nadur goalkeeper to pull the ball off the line. The ball appeared to be out of goal but linesman Mr. Reno Refalo quickly raised his flag and awarded the goal with the Nadur players protesting fiercily. This extremely demoralized Nadur who until then were controlling the play very good. Midway through the secong half Kenneth Mercieca had a good opportunity to equalize when he managed to enter the box after receiving a pass from Errol Grima but he was perfectly tackled by Jeffery Meilak. Despite the resistance by the Youngsters, Ghajnsislem succeeded in finding the equalizer. Errol Grima ran into the area after some close passes in Nadur's area. He chipped the ball over Sultana where Kenneth Mercieca was ready to convert the ball into an empty net. Nadur were shocked and Ghajnsielem could have won it at the end when Kenneth Mercieca received an inviting pass by Dos Santos and lobbed the ball over Nadur's goalkeeper. Errol Grima was rightly placed to head the ball in but instead he headed high.

In the dying minutes Nadur fought hard to re-clinch the 3 points that seemed to have had escaped from their grasp. More drama was instore. Alex Simoncic managed to win a free-kick on the left side. With his crosses always being a threat throughout the match this was not going to be an exception being Nadur's last chance of scoring. Simoncic's out swinging cross was perfectly met by Mercieca who rose high to seal the victory for Nadur and leave rivals Ghajnsielem heartbroken.

Sunday 18th October 2009 at 14:00 pm
Referee:Andre' Aciola
Scorers: Claudio Antunes 19', Josef Buttigieg 31', Kyle Russell 43', Charles Mercieca 90 + 4' (N), Joseph Attard 16', Steve Sultana O.G. 53', Kenneth Mercieca 83' (GH).
Yellow Cards: Franklee Galea, Kenneth Mercieca (GH), Alex Simoncic, Peter Buttigieg, Josef Buttigieg, Kyle Russell (N).
Red Cards: Josef Buttigieg (N)
Nadur Formation: Steve Sultana, Peter Buttigieg, Mario Portelli (Charles Mercieca), Paul Camilleri, Jeffery Meilak, Alex Simoncic, Saviour Attard, Josef Buttigieg, Kyle Russell, Anthony Portelli (Charles Hili), Claudio Antunes.