Nadur Youngsters -1- Qala St. Joseph -1-

23.11.08                                                                                                                                                                                         Gozo Stadium

            Nadur Youngsters winless streak continued when they were held to yet another draw by Qala St. Joseph . Both sides had their chances and could have registered their first win of the season.  After three consecutive defeats, Nadur managed their third consecutive draw.  Nadur had Libyan Akran Gseaa making his debut, replacing Ivo Ginev. It had to be another free kick for the Whites to score their goal as they seem goal shy when attacking.  With strong wing blowing, both sides scored their goal when backed by the wind.

            The first half was dominated by the youngsters but missed some scoring opportunities.  Joseph M. Portelli's header early on was saved by Agius with some difficulty.  Nadur were unlucky when a fine shot by the same J. M. Portelli beat the goalkeeper only to be stopped by the crossbar and flew to safety.  Debutant A. Gseaa, saw Agius again denying the Youngsters following a corner taken by A. Simoncic.  Nadur's pressure continued and J. M. Portelli saw his fine header going wide after receiving from S. Attard.  A. Simoncic free kick beats Agius but ended centimetres wide.  Nadur had to get that goal they truly deserved for all their efforts and it came a minute before half time.  They won a free kick, and Aleksandar Simoncic took it superbly and gave Agius no chance. There was no time for any Qala's reaction during the first half.

            As expected, Qala came out better for the second half, now with the wind behind their backs and a goal down.  C. E. Nwankwo's free kick went close.  Qala's pressure was rewarded on the 56th minute when a long distance free kick by M. Mifsud was placed into goal by the ex. Youngsters player, Chidi Eric Nwankwo.  Nadur reacted immediately and J. M. Portelli's try was cleared by the defence with some difficulty.  The Whites were operating with counter attacks and during one of them J. M. Portelli's shot went just wide.  Nadur's custodian, Sultana, did well to stop a C. E. Nwankwo's close range shot from an ideal position.  Play was now more open as both teams were clearly not going to settle for a draw.  A J. Buttigieg effort went just over and on the other side Sultana denied Nwankwo strike with a superb save into a corner.  An A. Simoncic corner was neatly headed towards goal by J. Meilak but his aim was a bit wide.  Nadur hit the crossbar for the second time through a J. Buttigieg shot and from the rebound J. M. Portelli hit wide.  The best chance of a winner came in stoppage time when A. Portelli took a cross by J. M. Portelli and after beating his marker, he hesitated a bit and the danger was cleared by P. Camilleri.  Nadur continued with last minutes efforts but Agius denied them twice with saves from Simoncic and J. M. Portelli.  Nadur could well feel they deserved victory, as they were the more adventurous of the two teams.  Nadur ended the first round anchored in bottom place with 3 points, same as Kercem Ajax, but the Ajax had a game in hand.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi

Nadur Youngsters Formation : Steve Sultana; Peter Buttigieg; Jeffrey Meilak; Saviour Attard; Aleksandar Simoncic; Josef Buttigieg; Branislav Timotic; Joseph M. Portelli ; Akran Gseaa ; Anthony Portelli; Joseph Portelli Said.