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Yesterday Naxxar Lions played their sixteenth match of the season against third placed Attard, determined to
extend their positive run and keep on fighting for the top spot in the table. As expected, Naxxar started with
an offensive formation, playing 3-5-2 at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. A good number of supporters turned up for
the match, together with children from the nursery who created a nice atmosphere, supporting their team.
Despite being in control of the game, we had to wait till the 17th minute for the first goal scoring opportunity,
when Darren Falzon hit the cross bar with a nice shot from the right. In the 25th minute, Darren Falzon headed an
Adrian Fenech free kick from the left to open the score for the Lions. Naxxar kept on pressing and were rewarded
5 minutes later when Darren Falzon freed Gilbert Camilleri in the penalty area who alone, doubled the score. With
Naxxar supporters still celebrating, Victor Bellia dribbled past Attard midfielders and shot out of reach of the
goalkeeper to make it 3-0. A few minutes later, the Attard custodian cleared badly and Gilbert Camilleri scored in
an empty net. With this goal, Naxxar,confident of having already bagged the 3 points, lowered their tempo, missing
several good scoring opportunities. In the 41st minute, despite being face to face with the goalkeeper, Bellia
passed the ball to Darren Falzon with the goalkeeper intercepting the pass. A minute later, Darren Falzon's shot
missed the target by a few inches.
In the second half, life got easier for the Lions, when Attard's forward was sent off for kicking a Naxxar's defender
and so Attard had to play with ten men for the remaining 45 minutes. In spite of this, they created the first threat,
when from a corner, Matthew Spiteri Gonzi had to head away from the penalty area to clear the danger. In the 60th minute,
the Attard guardian had to punch the ball away from danger before Gilbert Camilleri could head in. Five minutes later,
Adrian Fenech shot wide and Glen Magri missed the target after receiving a cross from Mario Debono. In the 70th minute,
Attard reduced the arrears when their striker shot in the top corner out of reach of Bjorn Attard from outside the penalty
area and a minute later had a shot going wide. This shocked the Lions, who retaliated with several opportunities. In the
space of a minute, 75th and 76th, Darren Falzon had two shots saved by Attard's rear guard. Two minutes later, a Mario
Debono cross was met by Darren Falzon who with a fine first timer scored his second goal. In the 83rd minute, Mario Debono
sealed the match when he scored from a rebound after Attard's goalkeeper saved Mattia Del Negro's shot. Five minutes from time,
Attard had another player sent of for a late tackle on Matthew Spiteri Gonzi. In the dying moments of the match, Darren Falzon
had another shot saved and from the rebound, Kevin Fenech shot wide.
With this win, Naxxar Lions extended their unbeaten run to 12 matches and are still joint first with Zejtun Corinthians
with two matches to go. Supporters are encouraged to give their full support to the team in the coming matches. Finally
a special mention must go to the nursery boys whose genuine and brilliant support helped the team to achieve this outstanding
result. Well done and keep it up.
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