U23 World League

Dragons Nest
Spectators: 7624 (Terracing: 5719, Seating: 1753, VIP seats: 152) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Honorio Oalo got the match started through his kick off. After 7 played minutes Manzano FC got a freekick which was hit by Jeronimo Argenis. Victorino Leheren showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ryan Grima in the 8th minute of the match. In the 9th minute, Julian Savona reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Victorino Leheren. The goal made the score 2-0. Martin Mangion fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 12th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Victorino Leheren having to interfere. 13 minutes into the match, Martin Mangion notched a goal, 3-0, to the right of Manzano FC's Victorino Leheren. Victorino Leheren was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Victorino Leheren showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Isaac Grimaud in the 18th minute of the match. Victorino Leheren showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ryan Grima, who was totally free with the ball in the 26th minute. Victorino Leheren made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Martin Mangion in the 28th minute of play. Cristo Laurin kicked well hit freekick during the 29th minute of the match. Isaac Grimaud struck a weak shot in the 29th minute. Victorino Leheren didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Sliema Dragons FC. The audience was convinced that Martin Mangion's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Victorino Leheren was relentless in the 35th minute of the game. In the 42nd minute, Martin Mangion left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Sliema Dragons FC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 4-0. All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Martin Mangion made a kick off. After a defensive mix-up in Manzano FC's zone, Martin Mangion stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Victorino Leheren came out of the goal and Martin Mangion tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Victorino Leheren took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Martin Mangion, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 57th minute, Isaac Grimaud 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. In the 59th minute, Hugon Debowski hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 61st minute Ryan Grima shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Victorino Leheren saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Victorino Leheren showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Martin Mangion in the 62nd minute of the match. 75 minutes into the match, Martin Mangion notched a goal, 7-0, to the right of Manzano FC's Victorino Leheren. Victorino Leheren was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. When Sliema Dragons FC's Martin Mangion in the 78th minute got a chance for a shot 78th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Manzano FC's goalie prevented a goal. Manzano FC's Victorino Leheren played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Martin Mangion in the 79th minute of play. Martin Mangion took the ball and in the 83 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Victorino Leheren. Victorino Leheren dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 8-0. 85 minutes into the match, Martin Mangion had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Victorino Leheren. Manzano FC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Martin Mangion was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 9-0. Victorino Leheren made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Martin Mangion in the 90th minute of play. Victorino Leheren showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Martin Mangion in the 92nd minute of the match. When Dante Cordaryal came up free with the goalie in the 95th minute, the Manzano FC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Dante Cordaryal couldn't finish the play. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered when the referee blew the final whistle. Sliema Dragons FC had won after a very even match.