U21 League

Kalahari Desert
Spectators: 160 (Terracing: 120, Seating: 37, VIP seats: 3) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Kevin Musu took the kick off in the first half of the match. Stamatis Agathakis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 4th minute. Jean Paul Taliana tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After 7 minutes of play, Saronida FC's Panos Siafakas made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Jean Paul Taliana was left in no man's land by his defense there! 10 minutes into the game, Kevin Musu was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Meerkats FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Saronida FC the free kick. Panos Siafakas took the ball and in the 10 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Jean Paul Taliana. Jean Paul Taliana dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-2. When the match clock showed 15 minutes, the score became 1-2 when Kevin Musu sped through Saronida FC's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Vlassis Giannoglou. Saronida FC's Vlassis Giannoglou played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Leonard Calleja in the 24th minute of play. In the 25th minute, Antonis Vrazilianos left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Saronida FC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-3. Kevin Musu's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Vlassis Giannoglou firmly grabbed it by the left post. An unexpectedly hard shot by Panos Siafakas in the 35th minute of play forced Meerkats FC's goalkeeper Jean Paul Taliana to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 40th minute of the game. One of Meerkats FC:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Saronida FC:s goal. In the 41st minute there was a penalty for Saronida FC. Petros Maragoudakis stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Jean Paul Taliana. 1-4. During the 46th minute of the match Kevin Musu completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Kevin Musu a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. After a rather tough play, Meerkats FC's Kevin Musu got a free kick in the 47th minute. Saronida FC's Achilleas Mamalis was substituted for Dimitris Koubouris. The Meerkats FC players were disheartened as they walked off the pitch after the first half. Saronida FC were winning 1-4.

Stephen Bonnici kicked well hit freekick during the 57th minute of the match. Saronida FC made a substitution. Markos Renieris replaced Antonis Vrazilianos. After a rather tough play, Meerkats FC's Stephen Bonnici got a free kick in the 59th minute. Stephen Bonnici's late challenge caught a Saronida FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Stephen Bonnici helped the player get up and apologised. Stephen Bonnici hit a great freekick 62 minutes into the match. In the 63rd minute, Petros Maragoudakis got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. After 66 played minutes Saronida FC got a freekick which was hit by Minas Rodanakis. In the 68th minute Leonard Calleja shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Vlassis Giannoglou saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Vlassis Giannoglou didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Leonard Calleja went, in the 71st minute, to the upper right corner, 2-4 was the resulting score. With his leg Jean Paul Taliana managed to avoid a goal in the 76thth minute, when Saronida FC's Markos Renieris fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. After 78 played minutes Meerkats FC got a freekick which was hit by Carl Chircop. The supporters of Saronida FC booed when Meerkats FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 81 match minutes in a wonderful position. Leonard Calleja didn't get a good kick on the ball. Nikos Malamas scored 2-5 in the 88th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Jean Paul Taliana, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. 99 minutes into the match, Meerkats FC's goal looked a bit too open when Markos Renieris came free, but Jean Paul Taliana reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Saronida FC's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.