Spoils shared in pulsating derby

Senglea Athletics 1
St George's 1

The atmosphere during yesterday's second game at the Centenary Stadium was electrifying.

This was a derby between old-time Cottonera rivals Senglea Athletics and St George's, their first encounter since the latter gained promotion to the Division One league at the end of last season.

Fans of these two clubs flocked to the Centenary Stadium and supported their team as if it was a cup final. In the end, the Blues from Cospicua were happier with the 1-1 outcome after they had fallen behind very early in the match.

It was a derby of two halves. The first 45 minutes were dominated by Senglea who went into this match with a high morale after their astounding 4-1 defeat of Premier League side St Patrick in the FA Trophy. Yet, the tide turned against the Yellow-Reds after the restart as it was St George's who took their game to their opponents.

The flag-waving and vociferous Senglea fans exploded with joy after just 13 minutes. A Darren Grech corner was deflected by a defender and Malcolm Tirchett was on hand to head home.

Edward Darmanin's side, trounced by Premier League side Floriana in their FA Trophy first round match, looked like they were in for more trouble.

After 18 minutes, Tirchett ran onto a long ball and sped into the box unmarked but St George's defender Emmanuel Sevasta managed to deflect the ball back to goalkeeper Andrea Gatt. Referee Marco Borg deemed that Sevasta's intervention was an intentional backpass to the goalkeeper and ordered a free-kick for Senglea inside the area. The latter failed to profit though as Kenneth Abela's low shot missed the target.

Senglea continued to push forward, Leonid McKay blasting wide from a good position after a fine personal move. On the half hour, a Silvio Sciberras free-kick from just outside the area was blocked by Gatt.

At last, the St George's faithful made themselves heard in the 35th minute when a Clive Brincat cross was chested by Godwin Stivala into the path of Ivan Camilleri whose drive from just inside the area was saved by George Attard.

On the resumption, St George's were a transformed side. Inside the first minute of the second half, a Heathcliff Schembri cross-shot was deflected by a defender for a corner.

Four minutes later, Keith Darmanin hit a good drive that finished just over the crossbar.

From a swift counter-attack, Senglea could have added a second after 57 minutes. Glenn Bonello's pace proved too much for St George's as he beat two defenders but his final effort flew high and wide.

St George's maintained the initiative though. Twenty minutes into the second half, an Edgar Degabriele drive from outside the box was well saved by the Senglea custodian and nine minutes from time, a Darmanin free-kick finished over.

The St George's fans did not have to wait much longer to celebrate their team's equaliser. Substitute Nazzareno Abela, originally from Senglea, delivered the centre, Darmanin nodded the ball on and Anthony Ewurun stooped to head past Attard from close range.

That was the only time Ewurun had evaded the tight marking of Edon Bobolayefa who had completely blotted him out of the game.

The atmosphere on the terraces was filled with tension in the final minutes of the game as the two sets of fans exchanged taunts and insults but calm was soon restored.

There could have been more drama on the pitch. With Senglea still struggling to get to grips with their opponents' equaliser, Ewurun was prominent with another header a minute into injury time but this time the ball skimmed the post.

Senglea: G. Attard, D. Aquilina, T. Ghirxi, E. Bobolayefa, D. Grech, G. Bonello, S. Aquilina, L. McKay, S. Sciberras, K. Abela (A. Farrugia), M. Tirchett.

St George's: A. Gatt, G. Stivala, E. Sevasta, A. Bonello, E. Degabriele, C. Brincat, I. Camilleri (N. Abela), J. Delia, A. Ewurun, K. Darmanin (R. Garcia), H. Schembri.

Referee: Marco Borg.