Valletta defender Maxim Focsa (left) battles for the ball with Jason Oswell, of Newtown AFC.Paul Zammit is confident Valletta are capable of winning next week’s second leg against Welsh side Newtown AFC and progress to the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
On Thursday, a makeshift Valletta team fought bravely at the Latham Park stadium only to concede a last-minute Jason Oswell goal that gave Newtown a 2-1 win ahead of next week’s second leg at the Hibs Stadium.
However, there is growing optimism in the Valletta camp that they can turn the tie in their favour buoyed by that goal from Jhonnattann which had put the teams temporarily level before City had Ian Azzopardi sent off and Oswell struck the stoppage-time winner.
“It’s natural to feel disappointed when you lose so late in the match,” Zammit told Times of Malta.
“But taking into consideration the problems we faced in the build-up to this match I am really pleased with the efforts of my players.
Newtown will make it difficult for us but I’m relying on my players and the Valletta fans to see us through
“Besides having Jonathan Caruana, Shaun Bajada, Roderick Briffa and Njongo Priso unavailable, we were also hampered by visa issues to four of our players… they only joined the team on the morning of the match.
“Still we produced a very strong showing, especially in the second half where we were clearly the better side. After Jhonnattann scored the equaliser we started pushing for another goal but then we had Ian Azzopardi sent off and Newtown regained their confidence.”
Next Thursday, a 1-0 win will be enough for Valletta to eliminate the Welshmen and set up a second qualifying round tie against FC Copenhagen.
Zammit anticipates it will be a very different game.
“We will surely have a much stronger squad available as Briffa and Caruana return from suspension and we’re also hopeful that Thierry Tazameta will recover from injury in time.
“There’s no other way about it... to qualify we have to beat Newtown so we’ll do everything to reach this objective.
“Newtown will make it difficult for us but I’m relying on my players and the Valletta fans to see us through this round.”
Proud Hughes
Newtown AFC boss Chris Hughes was beaming with pride after seeing his team attain their first ever victory in UEFA competitions on Thursday.
“I am so proud of what they have achieved, as a part-time team, to play like we did against a full-time side who are regulars in Europe… this is amazing,” he was quoted as saying.
“It has been a great night for the players, fans, and everyone at this club.”
Still, Hughes was disappointed his side didn’t increase their goal tally, after they hit the bar and went close on a number of occasions.
“I think 2-1 flattered them and we should have scored more,” he said.
“We carried out a game plan and it worked, we caused them lots of problems and should have got more goals, and maybe the final touch was missing at times in places, but overall we were brilliant.
“The pressure is still on them, they have to go out in front of their crowd and win. But we’ve already showed how good we are and what our league is about.”
The last time Valletta played a team from Wales they succeeded in making the next round.
In the 1999 Champions League, the Citizens eliminated Barry Town from the first qualifying round when beating them 3-2 at the National Stadium, having drawn 0-0 in the first leg in Wales.