Anywanna steers Balzan back in contention

Balzan Youths 3
Melita 1

Uchanna Anywanna’s brace gave Balzan Youths a deserved victory over Melita in a hard-fought Pool A tie at the Tedesco Stadium, yesterday.

Melita played flowing, one-touch football but, again, they lacked punch up front. In the end, the Amateurs conceded defeat to Balzan for whom victory was their first in the group after drawing the first two matches to get back in the reckoning for a place in the semi-finals.

Joe Borg’s team had an early Dylan Grima free-kick flying just over the bar as Balzan upped their game and started to pile some pressure on their opponents. In fact, it was no surprise that Balzan forged ahead on 20 minutes.

A Simon Mizzi grounder was turned to a corner by keeper Matthew Sapiano and from the flag-kick, taken by Grima, Anywanna headed home from close range.

Melita started seeing more of the ball after that goal but they never really troubled the Balzan keeper with play mostly concentrated in midfield. On resumption, the pattern did not change even though Balzan looked slightly better when in possession.

Another Anywanna header just missed the target on 52 minutes but five minutes later the score became 2-0. A weak Mizzi shot looked easy prey for Sapiano but somehow the ball slipped from his grasp and rolled into the net.

Melita immediately hit back and a couple of minutes later they were back in it as Luca Martinelli, one of the best players on the pitch, let fly a 30-metre thunderbolt that gave keeper Frederick Tabone no chance.

But with the Amateurs pushing forward in search of an equaliser, Balzan found a way through to score a third goal and settle the issue.

Late on, Anywanna latched on to an inviting Clint Micallef ball and despite being chased by his direct marker, the Nigerian fired in to dash Melita’s hopes.

Balzan: F. Tabone, C. Micallef, R. Farrugia, D. Agius, C. Ciantar (J. Francica), B. Bondin, D. Grima (S. Ciscaldi), M. Sciortino, S. Mizzi (L. Micallef), D. Fenech, U. Anywanna.

Melita: M. Sapiano, R. Goncalves, L. Martinelli, A. Caruana Scicluna (M. Batel), M. Martin, M. Borg, K. Micallef, J. Galea, M. Mamo (G. Gribbon), L. Micallef, T. Terpougoff (N. Baldacchino).

Referee: Glenn Tonna.