League Play-Off

Qala
Spectators: 37 (Terracing: 29, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when John Grimaud got the match started through his kick off. Silvio Diacono showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from John Grimaud, who was totally free with the ball in the 7th minute. Yan Strickland fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 12th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Victor Galdes having to interfere. 16 minutes into the game, Gregory Pulè cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Victor Galdes was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 24th minute, one of Nigret Athletic:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Nigret Athletic. Silvio Diacono went to the wrong direction when Louis Bonello was taking care of the penalty kick which however missed the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gregory Pulè in the 27th minute of play forced karawetta FC's goalkeeper Victor Galdes to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Malcolm Papagiorcopulo took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 29th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Silvio Diacono. Nigret Athletic's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. Brian Dingli blasted a shot towards the goal in the 30th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Silvio Diacono having to make a save. Brian Dingli sent away a hard shot on goal in the 33rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The crowd rose to their feet as John Grimaud kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Silvio Diacono. That made the score 1-1 in the 35 minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gregory Pulè in the 45th minute of play forced karawetta FC's goalkeeper Victor Galdes to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The audience thought a goal was coming when Brian Dingli got free with Silvio Diacono in the 48th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Yan Strickland to make the kick off. karawetta FC's John Grimaud got a good chance for a goal in the 52nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. If Brian Dingli had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 59th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. If John Grimaud had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 63rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 67 minutes into the match, Brian Dingli notched a goal, 2-1, to the right of Nigret Athletic's Silvio Diacono. Silvio Diacono was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Brian Dingli sent away a hard shot on goal in the 73rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After 75 minutes of play, karawetta FC's John Grimaud made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Silvio Diacono was left in no man's land by his defense there! Brian Dingli fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Silvio Diacono having to interfere. When Brian Dingli came up free with the goalie in the 81st minute, the karawetta 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 Brian Dingli couldn't finish the play. Gregory Pulè's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Victor Galdes read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 86th minute of play. Gregory Pulè succeeded to score despite a near miss that spronge from right pole into the goal to 3-2 in the 88th playminute. Both teams had looked equal from kick-off, and no-one was surprised when the match finally ended in a draw.