Freedom Cup Final

Nadur Youngsters - 0 vs Victoria Hotspurs - 2

- by Saviour Attard

Nadur Youngsters lost the Freedom Cup Final 2-0 against Victoria Hotspurs on Wednesday at the Gozo Stadium .The league leaders broke the tough Nadur defence 15 minutes from time through Martin Hanus who added a second few minutes later to wrap up the second Cup Victory of the season for his club.

Defensive excellence
As Victoria Hotspurs fielded and attack-minded side , with Martin Hanus , Uchenna Anyanwu and Eric Nkwakwo up-front , Nadur’s rearguard had to be on the alert from the initial moments of the match. Despite the strength of Victoria‘s attack,  the Youngsters’s defence dealt well , as Jeffrey Meilak was given a man to man marking role with Hanus. Steve Sultana pulled a tremendous save from a close effort by Nkwankwo who was unmarked by Uche after 35 minutes of play.

Aggressive play
Nadur’s prolific striker Claudio Antunes was constantly fouled through out the match and limped off injured five minutes from time following a violent tackle by  Alex Tramboo. The Brazilian’s play was delightful as usual and it was his effort after half and hour of play that forced Mark Grima to pull a good save.

Breaktrough
The deadlock lasted until the 75^th minute as Victoria Hotspurs went in front. Jason Portelli crossed towards Martin Hanus who headed home. This completely wrong footed the Whites who had until then played a decent match despite creating few chances of goal. The same Czech striker doubled Victoria’s tally eight minutes from time as he beat Sultana with a low shot that also took an awkward deflection.

Decisive Clash Next Week
Nadur’s loss in the Cup had little effect on their league aspirations as they are still in contention for the top spot with three games left for the end. Next match will be against arch-rivals Ghajnsielem who are equal on points with the Whites. The match was re-scheduled from Thursday 8^th April to Sunday the 11^th of April. Nadur have to leave the game with Victoria Hotspurs behind and concentrate on this match as a win will  put them perfectly in shape to get the  revenge on the same Hotspurs on the 18^th of April.

Wednesday, 31st March 2010 at 14:00 p.m.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Scorers: Martin Hanus 76' 82' (VH).
Nadur Formation: Steve Sultana, Mario Portelli, Jeffery Meilaq, Peter Buttigieg, Paul Camilleri, Charles Mercieca, Charles Hili (Saviour Attard), Claudio Antunes (Joseph Grima), A. Portelli (Christian Debono), Josef Buttigieg, Andre De Souza.

 

 

Photos By Joseph Mercieca  www.gozovision.com