Challenge

Saracino Stadium
Spectators: 50 (Terracing: 38, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Alan Said started the match with the kick off. Mexico's Dante Lacasa played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Sergen Sergen in the 5th minute of play. 9 minutes into the game, Glenn Bailey was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Attard Gunners's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Mexico the free kick. In a very dangerous position, a player in Attard Gunners fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 9th minute. Penalty! The referee gave Mexico a penalty, 10 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Joel Gaona, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Attard Gunners's Jay Jowsey. 0-1. Jay Jowsey showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Joel Gaona in the 17th minute of the match. After some careless play in the Mexico defense, Sergen Sergen kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Dante Lacasa. The Mexico fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Dante Lacasa should have stopped the shot. In the 23rd minute, Lautaro Mancebo ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Jay Jowsey was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-2. Macos Graciani made in the 26th minute of the game a fairly good throw-in which was taken care of by Luca Zorita. Jay Jowsey made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lautaro Mancebo in the 28th minute of play. After some careless play in the Attard Gunners defense, Alberto Tafalla kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Jay Jowsey. The Attard Gunners fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Jay Jowsey should have stopped the shot. Facundo Cadaval fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 32nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jay Jowsey having to interfere. Jay Jowsey showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Gaona, who was totally free with the ball in the 33rd minute. After 36 played minutes Attard Gunners got a freekick which was hit by Godwin Sapiano. Joel Gaona took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 37th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Jay Jowsey. Attard Gunners's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. The audience thought a goal was coming when Jean Carl Cassar Torreggiani got free with Dante Lacasa in the 40th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Jay Jowsey made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Alberto Tafalla in the 42nd minute of play. Lautaro Mancebo struck a weak shot in the 44th minute. Jay Jowsey didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Mexico. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Sergen Sergen, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Joel Gaona stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 53rd minute Alan Said shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Dante Lacasa saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 54 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Sergen Sergen came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When Alberto Tafalla came up free with the goalie in the 57th minute, the Mexico 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 Alberto Tafalla couldn't finish the play. Alan Said got a throw-in 63 minutes in the game and the ball was received by Louis Naudi. 65 minutes into the match, Attard Gunners's goal looked a bit too open when Joel Gaona came free, but Jay Jowsey reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After a rather tough play, Mexico's Lorenzo Cazalla got a free kick in the 66th minute. Luca Zorita received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 68th minute. Jay Jowsey tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Sergen Sergen hit a great freekick 69 minutes into the match. Jay Jowsey showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Gaona, who was totally free with the ball in the 70th minute. Dante Lacasa took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Neville Ciscaldi, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Joel Gaona received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 75th minute. Jay Jowsey tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. With a little luck, Attard Gunners's Jay Jowsey got control of the ball when Alberto Tafalla tried to sneak it across the goal line. The supporters of Mexico booed when Attard Gunners was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 78 match minutes in a wonderful position. Louis Naudi didn't get a good kick on the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sergen Sergen in the 82nd minute of play forced Mexico's goalkeeper Dante Lacasa to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Alberto Tafalla's late challenge caught a Attard Gunners's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Alberto Tafalla helped the player get up and apologised. Jean Carl Cassar Torreggiani recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 91st minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. In the 93rd minute, Luca Rouco hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Adrian Savona in the 96th minute of the match. 96 minutes into the match, Adrian Savona had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Dante Lacasa. Mexico's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Adrian Savona was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-3. The Mexico players were relieved to hear the final whistle blow to end the match. The away crowd was happy to see their team win after a very tight game.