League

Arena Eduardo Máximo
Spectators: 9206 (Terracing: 6931, Seating: 2125, VIP seats: 150) Ad Astra's Sean Haber started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Robert Pullicino charged in rather forcefully in the 2nd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Robert Pullicino the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of Eleven Young Elephants booed when Ad Astra was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 2 match minutes in a wonderful position. Robert Pullicino didn't get a good kick on the ball. The supporters of Eleven Young Elephants booed when Ad Astra was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 3 match minutes in a wonderful position. Luke Attard didn't get a good kick on the ball. The audience thought a goal was coming when Darren Carabott got free with Ryan Xiberras in the 4th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 6th minute, Darren Carabott left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Eleven Young Elephants fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. Ad Astra's Ryan Xiberras played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Zlatko Zahovič in the 11th minute of play. In the 12th minute, Darren Carabott fired away a killer shot towards the goal that, to the delight of Ryan Xiberras, passed just outside the right post. Zlatko Zahovič fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 13th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ryan Xiberras having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Zlatko Zahovič in the 15th minute of play forced Ad Astra's goalkeeper Ryan Xiberras to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Sean Haber sent away a hard shot on goal in the 20th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. Luke Attard kicked well hit freekick during the 23rd minute of the match. In the 24th minute, Fabio Savona sent off a long shot on goal, but the shot was nowhere near the goal and Ad Astra's Ryan Xiberras didn't even have to move. After 25 minutes of play, Eleven Young Elephants's Severino Bueno made it 3-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ryan Xiberras was left in no man's land by his defense there! Severino Bueno could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 31st minute of the match, but Ryan Xiberras made a huge save. Severino Bueno did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 4-0 to the left of a surprised Ryan Xiberras 36 minutes into the match. Ryan Xiberras showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Severino Bueno, who was totally free with the ball in the 44th minute. In the 45th minute, Darren Carabott ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Ryan Xiberras was frozen by the shot and now it was 5-0. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 5-0 at half-time.

An unexpectedly hard shot by Darren Carabott in the 53rd minute of play forced Ad Astra's goalkeeper Ryan Xiberras to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The Eleven Young Elephants fans' excitement grew in the 56th match minute when Eleven Young Elephants's Severino Bueno looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 6-0 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. 60 minutes into the game, Eleven Young Elephants's Zlatko Zahovič nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Ryan Xiberras made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 7-0. In the 71st minute, Carlo Camilleri made a precise shot to the right of Ryan Xiberras. Ad Astra's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 8-0. Nicholas Tanti's late challenge caught a Eleven Young Elephants's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Nicholas Tanti helped the player get up and apologised. After 73 played minutes Ad Astra got a freekick which was hit by Nicholas Tanti. After some careless play in the Ad Astra defense, Severino Bueno kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Ryan Xiberras. The Ad Astra fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Ryan Xiberras should have stopped the shot. Ad Astra's Ryan Xiberras played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Severino Bueno in the 85th minute of play. Ryan Xiberras showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Zlatko Zahovič in the 88th minute of the match. Severino Bueno received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 94th minute. Ryan Xiberras tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Ryan Xiberras took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Zlatko Zahovič, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side.