Victoria Hotspurs Start the IZIBET Amateur League II with a Win

Victoria Hotspurs Start the IZIBET Amateur League II with a Win

Victoria Hotspurs F.C. 2 – 1 St Venera Lightnings

Scorers: 22′ Emmanuel Mbong, 90+3′ Shaun Attard

History was written on Sunday afternoon when Victoria Hotspurs became the very first former GFA club to play in the MFA leagues. The Hotspurs completely dominated the fixture but it took the Gozitans up to stoppage time to decide the match. The Lightnings deserve a big compliment as the team, which apart from Warren Zerafa up front, went through a complete transformation, including some players who had not been active in MFA football for many years.

It was Emmanuel Mbong who broke the deadlock on 22 minutes, producing an unstoppable curling top corner strike from the edge of the box. Four minutes later, Hotspurs captain Ferdinando Apap (ex-Hibernians) blocked Lightnings striker Andie Sammut illegally in the box, with Zerafa blasting home the penalty in style. The Hotspurs created several other opportunities during the remaining time in the first half, mainly through target-man Wellington, but somehow the Saints managed to keep the score equal when going into the break.

After the change of ends, Santa Venera continued to produce excellent work-rate, somehow keeping the Gozitan debutants at bay despite their dominance. On 71 minutes, Yandrik Cassar made a splendid save on a Wellington attempt, which he turned into a corner. However, deep into stoppage time, the Hotspurs scored the winner through Shaun Attard, beating Cassar from close-range. The Reds could have even added one more when the referee awarded a penalty when Luca Laferla fouled Matthias Said in the box. However, Mbong blasted the spot kick high.

Match Report by Malta Football Association