vs
1	-	1
55' J.Camilleri		20' K.Mercieca

Xewkija Tigers earn a point in their match against SK Victoria Wanderers, which match was without few doubts conditioned by some questionable refereeing decisions during the 90 minutes.  This however does not reduce SK's merits who played an excellent first half, in which they put the Tigers under some serious pressure. This pressure was however overturned in the second half, as Xewkija created an impressive amount of goalscoring opportunites and only erratic finishing in front of goal failed to give them the deserved three points.

Play in the early stages was quite defensive by both sides and both goalkeepers where rarely tested in the opening ten minutes.  The Wanderers produced the first real threat on 11 minutes when Kenneth Mercieca's pass found Adesina in the box whose first timer ended just wide.  Xewkija's reply arrived on 15 minutes when Chris Camilleri's free kick was neutralized on two attempts by goalie Vella.  On 19 minutes Kenneth Mercieca's effort for SK ended wide and one minute goalie Grima neutralized an effort by Edison Sanchez.  On 21 minutes, SK Victoria Wanderers opened the score when Ajibade Adesina won a tussle with Xewkija's goalie with the ball ending on Kenneth Mercieca's feet who netted in goal.  Xewkija recovered from the shock goal and started applying pressure on their opponents, without creating any goal scoring opportunities.  On 43 minutes SK could have doubled the score when Adesina concluded high from an ideal position and one minute later, after a clear hand ball call by Xewkija which was neglected by the referee, from a fast counter break, Edison Sanchez's progression was halted by goalie Grima who blocked his run towards goal.

The Wanderers opened the second half as they had closed it, with another huge scoring opportunity when Edison Sanchez released Ajibade Adesina who saw his close ranged effort well blocked by goalie Grima. Xewkija levelled the score on 51 minutes when a free kick by Chris Camilleri surprised the Wanderers rareguard. However one minute later SK could easily gone ahead once more when a Kenneth Mercieca cross from the left found an unmarked Lauran Dimech on the second post but his angled shot was well saved by goalie Grima.  

The Tigers started to grow in confidence and increased their pressure on their opponents.  They went close on 59 minutes with an effort by John Camilleri which was cleared off the line by defender Magrin and minutes later goalie Vella deflected another effort by John Camilleri.  On 61 mintues Rodney Buttigieg saw his effort from inside the box ending wide and four minutes later goalie Vella saved from Chris Camilleri and from the rebound Rodney Buttigieg shot incredibly wide from an ideal position.  On 66 minutes, the Tigers went close again but John Camillleri saw his effort shaving the right post with goalie Vella beaten.  SK replied on 80 minutes when Edison Sanchez's shot ended high without troubling the Xewkija defence.  Three minutes later Xewkija were once again dangerous with an effort by Rodney Buttigieg which hit the base of the post from a short distance and in the following action SK's David Monday cleared off the line an effort by Christian Bugeja.  In the dying moments of the match, SK Victoria Wanderers' goalie Vella made the last save of the match by denying Chris Camilleri his second goal of the game by blocking his effort on goal.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 18 January 2012 03:10 )