Challenge

Dragons Nest
Spectators: 51 (Terracing: 39, Seating: 11, VIP seats: 1) 7 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Fabian Borg came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 8 minutes Mexico's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Fabian Borg who took care of the corner kick. After 12 minutes Sliema Dragons FC's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Joel Gaona who took care of the corner kick. With a little luck, Mexico's Dante Lacasa got control of the ball when Vince Gauci tried to sneak it across the goal line. John Balzan made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Alberto Tafalla in the 17th minute of play. In the 22ndth minute of the game Lautaro Mancebo who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Sliema Dragons FC's John Balzan was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. A collision led to Sliema Dragons FC getting a freekick after 23 minutes play. Colin Pullicino Orlando hit a great ball. In the 25th minute, Alberto Tafalla ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. John Balzan was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. In the 27th minute Fabian Borg 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. The audience was convinced that Fabian Borg's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Dante Lacasa was relentless in the 27th minute of the game. John Balzan made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 29th minute of play. After some careless play in the Sliema Dragons FC defense, Joel Gaona kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of John Balzan. The Sliema Dragons FC fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that John Balzan should have stopped the shot. The supporters of Sliema Dragons FC booed when Mexico was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 36 match minutes in a wonderful position. Facundo Cadaval didn't get a good kick on the ball. John Balzan didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Luca Zorita went, in the 40th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-4 was the resulting score. Christian Scalpello lost his temper 43 minutes into the game and shoved another player to the ground. He was immediately shown a red card. Joel Gaona shot the penalty kick right outside the post.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Vince Gauci made a kick off. Lautaro Mancebo took the ball and in the 53 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised John Balzan. John Balzan dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-5. John Balzan took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Sliema Dragons FC's Robert Pullicino was substituted for Ian Depasquale. Mexico's Joel Gaona was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but John Balzan in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. In the 58th match minute, Sliema Dragons FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Sean Miggiani to maneuver through the defense. An unexpectedly hard shot by Luca Zorita in the 60th minute of play forced Sliema Dragons FC's goalkeeper John Balzan to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 61st minute Mexico were awarded a corner. Joel Gaona went to the cornerflag to take it. The corner led Mexico's Joel Gaona to fire away a dangerous shot which John Balzan despite some difficulties managed to get hold on the ball. The crowd rose to their feet as Mexico's Alberto Tafalla slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of John Balzan. That made the score 0-6 after 66 minutes of play. In the 70th minute, Mexico's Lautaro Mancebo dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 0-7. 75 minutes had been played when some careless play by Mexico's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Fabian Borg was slow to take the kick. During this time Sliema Dragons FC's players had a chance to rest. After taking down the ball on Sliema Dragons FC's corner Fabian Borg fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Dante Lacasa quite easily take care of the ball. John Balzan made a fantastic save in the 76th minute, when Lautaro Mancebo sent off a good shot on target. In the 77th match minute, Sliema Dragons FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Arthur Facciol to maneuver through the defense. In the 78th minute, Joel Gaona left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Mexico fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-8. In the 82nd minute the ball was on its way in behind Sliema Dragons FC's goalkeeper John Balzan, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. 84 minutes into the match, Alberto Tafalla dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of John Balzan, 0-9. Sliema Dragons FC's John Balzan proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 87th minute of the match, managed to save Sliema Dragons FC from getting a goal against them. The audience thought a goal was coming when Facundo Cadaval got free with John Balzan in the 90th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. John Balzan came out of the goal in the 91st minute to try and stop a shot by Mexico's Lautaro Mancebo. But to his dismay, Lautaro Mancebo quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-10. When the match was over Mexico could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Sliema Dragons FC throughout the match.