Bold Balzan tame Lions
Balzan Youths 2Naxxar Lions 0\nFollowing last week's defeat against newly promoted Msida St Joseph, a bold Balzan Youths side bounced back to beat Naxxar Lions by two goals to nil as the Lions were a shadow of the side that beat Lija Athletic 1-0 on...
Balzan Youths 2
Naxxar Lions 0
\nFollowing last week's defeat against newly promoted Msida St Joseph, a bold Balzan Youths side bounced back to beat Naxxar Lions by two goals to nil as the Lions were a shadow of the side that beat Lija Athletic 1-0 on the first day of the campaign.
It was a merited victory for the Youths, who beside dictating matters in the first half, were technically the better side throughout the 90 minutes.
Balzan's rearguard, well marshalled by Jeffrey Farrugia, rarely ceded an inch to the Lions' striking duo of Henry Pullicino and Aaron Pendry as were practically kept at bay throughout the whole match.
The first half was a boring affair and even though Balzan dictated matters, they were rarely dangerous. On the half hour a Mark Marlow effort from outside the box just missed the target. The Youths forged ahead in the 34th minute when Farrugia's cross was volleyed home by Kurt Coleiro.
A minute before the break a Marlow cross was headed wide by Galea from a good position.
On resumption, Naxxar tried to bounce back but they only threatened with a Pullicino effort which was saved by Paul Bugeja in the Balzan goal. In the 65th minute Farrugia again found Coleiro and the latter's effort was saved by Psaila.
Three minutes later Galea's shot was well saved by the Lions' custodian.
Balzan were still the better side and it was no surprise when they made sure of the three points in the 72nd minute when they were awarded a penalty after a Galea cross was handled in the area by Jonathan Grech. From the resultant spot-kick Ives Bilocca made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Ten minutes from time a Seychell drive for Naxxar just missed the target and two minutes later Galea should have scored the third for Balzan when unmarked he tried to round goalkeeper Psaila but somehow the latter cleared the danger.
At the end of the match Edmond Lufi should have pulled one back for Naxxar but he shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Naxxar Lions: P. Psaila, K. Sammut (K. Seychell), E. Lufi, J. Grech, K. Schembri, M. Borg, G. Buhagiar, S. Muscat (R. Schembri), C. Spiteri, A. Pendry (C. Dozie), H. Pullicino.
Balzan Youths: P. Bugeja, S. Sadowski, I. Bilocca, C. Micallef, A. Deidun, G. Farrugia, K. Farrugia, M. Marlow (D. Agius), M. Galea, N. Jankovic (N. Arpa), K. Coleiro.
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.