Gozo came back from a goal down to beat Latvia’s Rinuzi Strong 3-2 in their opening Group 5 match from the UEFA Regions Cup mini-tournament at the Gozo Stadium yesterday.

Eddie Vella’s team struggled to get going in the first half as they fell behind six minutes from half-time when Vitalijs Puzirevskis put the visitors ahead.

The Gozitans came to life after the break and Michael Bezzina equalised four minutes into the second half before Kenneth Mercieca put his team in front on 54 minutes.

Gozo made sure of the points 12 minutes from time when substitute Anthony Portelli converted a penalty to give his team a 3-1 lead.

The Latvians managed to pull one back two minutes from time through Romans Simanovskis but the hosts held on for the win.

Gozo play their second match tomorrow when they face Russia’s Olimp Moscow. Yesterday, the Russian selection beat Romania’s Ialoveni 4-0.

Gozo: M. Grima, J. Cefai (84 M. Buhagiar), D.M. Udoh, A. Simoncic (81 J. Camilleri), P. Buttigieg, J. Portelli (51 A. Portelli), K. Mercieca, J.G. Vella, R. Buttigieg, M. Bezzina, D. Stojanovic.

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