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On Sunday 30th May, Naxxar Lions faced Gudja United in the final of the third division play-offs. Both teams won
their semi finals against Mdina Knights and Santa Venera Lightnings respectively in their mid-week matches. This
was the 3rd time the two teams met this season, with the first time being the first match of the season where Gudja
won the 3 points and the second time Naxxar Lions paid back their dues when they won 2-1. This last match was as
exciting as the other two matches where the 90 minutes weren't enough to determine who's to get promotion.
Naxxar started the match with a 4-3-3 formation and immediately showed their intentions when they started pressing
their opponents in their half. As early as the 8th minute, Victor Bellia had his shot saved by the Gudja goalkeeper
Mathew Xerxen. A minute later a mistake by Naxxar's defense resulted in Gudja taking the lead. This resulted in
Naxxar reacting and creating more goal scoring opportunities. In the 10th minute, Gilbert Camilleri had his shot
saved and 8 minutes later the same player equalized with a header. In the 27th minute, Gudja's forward headed wide
while in the 31st minute Gilbert Camilleri put the lions in the lead with a powerful shot from a Glen Magri rebound.
It only took Gudja United 5 minutes to level the score when their forward stole a ball from the defense and fired at
the back of the net. In the 42nd minute, Gudja surprised their opponents again when Trevor Thomas shot from outside
the penalty area after receiving a long pass on the right. This ended the second half with Gudja leading 3-2.
In the second half, Naxxar were better and were again the team who created the most chances. Just after one minute
from the restart, Gudja goalkeeper Matthew Xerxen had to punch the ball from Adrian Fenech to clear the danger away
from his goal and from the resulting corner, Simon Muscat failed to equalize from close range. In the 50th minute,
from a cross by Kevin Fenech, Glen Magri's header went over the cross bar while a minute later, Gilbert Camilleri
missed from close range. In the 59th and 63rd minute, the Gudja guardian, had to save both Mattia Del Negro's and
Victor Bella's shots. Despite the fact that Naxxar were dictating play, it was Gudja who added another goal and
extended the lead when Trevor Thomas scored a brilliant goal directly from a free kick. This did not stop the lions
and they kept on pressing and creating chances. In the 71st and 72nd minute, Gilbert Camilleri had a shot from inside
the penalty area and a header saved by the Gudja rearguard. 15 minutes from time, Naxxar pulled one back when Adrian
Fenech scored from a header and two minutes later, Victor Bellia scored with a powerful header to make the score 4-4.
In the 86th minute, Glen Magri put Naxxar back in the lead but it was not the end of the match and 1 minute into the
injury time, Gudja United equalized to end the match in a 5-5 draw.
There wasn't much in the extra 30 minutes and the only goal scoring opportunity was Gudja's when in the 9th minute a
shot by their forward went wide. The penalties had to decide the winner of this match and Naxxar Lions didn't have the
best start when Jonathan Agius had his shot hit the upright. Gudja scored their first two penalties while Naxxar had
Mattia Del Negro and Andrea Farrugia score theirs. It was then David Vella who saved Matthew Xerxen's shot from the
penalty spot to equalize the score. After that, Victor Bellia, Gilbert Camilleri and Justin Zammit all scored their
penalties and again, David Vella was the hero for the lions when he saved the last penalty.
With this win, Naxxar Lions were promoted to the second division together with Zejtun Corinthians and Mgarr United.
After the match all the team together with the supporters celebrated the promotion at Naxxar square.
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