Melita First Division League - Matchday 9

Nadur youngsters - 1 vs Sannat Lions - 1

- by Saviour Attard

Nadur Youngsters were seconds away from obtaining a vital victory against Sannat but were denied victory with a goal scored from Ferdinando De Andrade three minutes into injury time. The Brazilian’s strike that cancelled out Anthony Portelli’s opener in the first half kept the Whites six points adrift of the league summit with nine games left to play to the end. 

Following the loss against Ghajnsielem that also maturated in the final stages of the game, the players reacted well and provided a great performance that should have been rounded up with the three points. Perhaps what Nadur lacked the most was the lack of killer instinct in front of goal as they had many chances to double their lead in the second half and seal the issue in their favor. 

Anthony Portelli was back for Nadur following his suspension against Ghajnsielem and he immediately made his presence count with a fine goal after 25 minutes that took his tally to 98 goals with the Youngsters. From what appeared to be an angled position, Portelli fired a low shot on the first post that hit the back on the net. Sannat had to increase tempo and they managed to keep Nadur in their own half but never managed to create any serious danger to Nadur’s keeper Steve Sultana. 

Sannat were more dangerous in the second half and maintained the pressure on their opponents but as time cropped by Nadur became more dangerous in counter attacks. Wesley de Oliveira had a good chance to double the mark for the Youngsters as Sannat’s defense was caught wrong-footed but his low shot went wide off the post. Joseph Portelli was denied with a fine save by Parnis few minutes later. Nadur were nearly punished following this action as Parnis’ long kick created havoc into the area and Eric Nkwankwo managed to chip the ball over Nadur’s keeper only to see Meilak clearing the ball of the fatal line. Ten minutes from time Nadur lost another golden opportunity as De Oliveira was brilliantly unleashed by Hili with Sannat’s back-line beaten. The Brazilian’s conclusion however again went wide and it was clear that loosing such opportunities will be fatal to Nadur. 

In fact Sannat managed to grabe the equalizer deep inyo injury time when Fedinando De Andrade struck in from a corner by Vella with the last kick off of the game.

Sunday 12th December 2010 at 15:00 pm.
Referee: Paul Caruana.
Scorers: Anthony Portelli 25' (N), Fernando De Andrade 93' (S).
Nadur Formation: Steve Sultana, Josef Buttigieg, Jeffery Meilaq, Mario Portelli, Darko Stojanovic, Charles Hili (John Paul Grima), Milos Stojanovic, Saviour Attard, Weslei De Oliveira, Anthony Portelli (Ian Xuereb), Joseph M. Portelli. 
Coach: Frank Muscat