Senglea Athletic’s impressive season turnaround was not far off from being described as a ‘Great Escape’.

The Cottonera outfit proved their critics wrong by making amends to some mistakes committed in the first round and retain their Premier League status for a second successive season.

Next season, the Yellow Reds will be among the big dogs for a third time in a row – a remarkable feat for a club that before their promotion three years ago had not played top-flight football for more than 30 years.

After managing to keep their place in the top-flight in 2017-18, Senglea were looking to pull themselves clear from danger as early possible this season, banking on the experience of the previous year.

However, a dismal start to their campaign saw them slip to the bottom of the standings with just four points to show after 13 outings.

A radical change in the team personnel during the January transfer window propelled Senglea to a staggering 22-point tally in the second round, only bettered by Valletta and Hibernians who collected 30 and 27 points respectively.

Led by Vincenzo Potenza, Senglea made sure of avoiding the drop after defeating a much-quoted Birkirkara side 3-2 on the final day of the season, to the relief of the club and fans.

The salvation is down to the gamble done by club president Reuben Debono, together with the rest of the committee members, who made sure to revamp the squad with the required talent to make the team more competitive, even if in such a short time.

The first change arrived in the early stages of the season when Senglea parted ways with coach Bruno Rosso, with fellow Italian Potenza taking over the team.

“Vincenzo Potenza was already in Malta and he had a taste of how we like to work more or less,” Debono told the Times of Malta.

“We struggled a lot in the first round, therefore we were already looking how we could we fix the team ahead of the second round.

“Due to the transfer rules, we could not register players before January, however, we had some foreigners training with us since November and once they were eligible to play, they had no problem in adapting to our style.”

Debono underlined the difficulties that the team was finding in imposing its game and it became more alarming when Senglea were failing to make a noise even against par-level teams.

“When we were struggling against relegation rival teams, we were thinking how difficult was it going to be against teams like Valletta and Hibernians for example,” the Senglea president said.

“Moreover, we were concerned that the team would be disheartened by our league position but the energy that the new players brought in the environment enabled us to reach our targets.”

In fact, Senglea opened the second round with five consecutive positive results including a 2-1 win over Balzan and a 3-3 draw against defending champions Valletta.

Although the nucleus of foreign players brought into the squad helped the team to raise its level, coach Potenza showed his astuteness by fitting the players in the right positions even though the team was completely new from the first round.

Debono heaped praise on Potenza’s work and is already looking forward to work with him come the new campaign.

“Potenza reassured me that he is really happy with the backing he enjoys here, therefore I can confirm that he will stay at the helm of the team, even if that means improving his contract conditions,” Debono said.

“He brought a lot of enthusiasm in our squad which has helped to motivate the players, including Maltese players as well.”

One player who has been a regular starter for the club and made the case for trusting the domestic product was midfielder Leighton Grech.

“What Leighton Grech has given to us is incredible – it was frustrating for him in the first round of the season but he kept faith in our project and in the second part of the campaign he shared majority of the weight of the offensive department on his shoulders and has even managed to earn a national team call-up,” Debono explained.

“We will definitely confirm him for the upcoming season, together with goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia who will be part of our Maltese players package.”

It was a matter of time before the excellent performances shown by the foreign players of Senglea would draw interest from top clubs, both in Malta and abroad.
One player who is sure of leaving the club is Gonzalo Leyton who has signed with Switzerland’s Chiasso.

One of the players who is on the radar of some of the local elite clubs is Diego Venancio, the midfield orchestrator with six goals and five assists in 13 goals.

In all this enthusiasm that lifted Senglea, unfortunately, there was also a sad chapter in the passing away of former vice-president Benny Casha, who has been one of the masterminds in the club’s journey towards the Premier League.

Casha’s contribution

“Benny Casha held an important role in this club because he helped Senglea to strive towards playing in the biggest stage at domestic level,” Debono said.

“The news of his passing away stunned us and I remember immediately after we had to play an important match against Valletta.

“I remember speaking to the players in the dressing room, telling them that this match was dedicated to him and the players made sure to remember him in the best of ways with a fine display.

“This season’s achievement has surely been a fitting remembrance of him.”

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