Valletta 1 Marsaxlokk 1
Ryan Fenech’s last gasp goal saved Valletta’s unbeaten record in a dramatic fashion.
That incident was the climax to a thrillingly dramatic finale to a match which advertised plenty of what is good about the Maltese football.
The first scoring of the game fell to Marsaxlokk after two minutes. Martin Deanov bore down through the middle before switching the ball to Alfred Effiong on the right but his weak shot caused no trouble to Andrew Hogg.
And, Valletta did not have to wait long to test the waters with a devastating attack in the third minute. Temile picked up the ball from Fenech and fed the overlapping Denni who pulled it back for Scerri who added to the spice by a cheeky backheel but Ruben Gauci well prepared for the trick.
Despite two early strikes from Scerri, the leaders opened in nervy fashion with Kevin Sammut and Edmond Agius committing basic errors as Marsaxlokk advanced with menace.
A hearty thump from distance Ryan Fenech after 36 minutes signaled the first spell of sustained pressure from the Lilywhites.
Just before half-time, Fenech charged down the left flank to supplement the attack but Scerri failed to get on the end of the cross.
Fenech’s class instigated a real sense of urgency for Valletta soon after the interval. They won a number of flag-kicks from the right flank where Marsaxlokk look vulnerable. In the 46th minute, Peter Pullicino got a headed touch on Fenech’s swerving ball which looked destined to fly into the net.
In the 53rd minute, a corner from Fenech demanded a stretching intervention from Florent Raimy as Valletta went close to breach Marsaxlokk’s goal.
But Valletta’s response in the second half delighted Zerefa who introduced Gilbert Agius just after the hour stroke. The evergreen Agius was in the thick of action right away as Scerri was guilty of a terrible miss in the 67th minute when he side-footed over an open goal from Agius’s cross.
Eight minutes later, Scerri screwed an attempt as his fierce close-range shot was brilliantly saved by Gauci after Gilbert Agius clearly found the unmarked striker.
Yet Valletta paid the price for overconfidence as they completely lost their concentration in the 83rd time to let Marsaxlokk open the score. With Valletta failing to mark properly a superb cross from Sciberras fell between Steve Borg and Jonathan Caruana but Malcolm Licari got in front of Borg, stretched to add power and steer the ball into the net.
As the Southseasiders rocked the in celebrations, Valletta gathered their forces for one final assault and Fenech was the hero scoring two minutes from time with another of their forays which triggered panic in the Marsaxlokk’s box. Scerri rattled the post as he blasted his shot which squeezed through a number of defenders and Fenech flashed in to head home the rebound before he went celebrating wildly in front of his relieved and ecstatic supporters.