Hotspurs Keep On Marching

Hotspurs Keep On Marching

Victoria Hotspurs 3 – 0 Dingli Swallows

Scorers: Daniel Farrugia 60′, Kurt Borg 79′, Emmanuel Mbong 80′

The Sunday night kick off at the Centenary Stadium was target for Victoria Hotspurs, who recorded their 14^th league victory of the season, this time over Dingli Swallows who fought bravely and need to be complimented for their work-rate. It took the Hotspurs up to the hour-mark to break the deadlock, which means the tactical plan of Dingli coach Nicolai Caruana initially worked out well, frustrating their opponents extensively.

Nevertheless, it was one way traffic throughout the game. On 19 minutes, Swallows goalkeeper Adam Benjelloun did well to parade a free Kurt Borg header from a precise Daniel Farrugia cross from the right. Six minutes after, Dejan Bogdanovic sent Wellington on a probing run from the left flank, but there was nobody in the right place to finish his excellent cross into the box. Just after the half hour mark, Farrugia served Shaun Attard whose attempt curled wide. On 41 minutes, Kurt Borg came again close with a header which however, once more, failed to hit target. In stoppage time, Owen Yoro Gbekia nearly sent Dingli into half-time with the lead but the French striker failed to shake off his direct marker and concluded weak into the hands of Richard Sammut.

Two minutes after the re-start, substitute Emmanuel Mbong missed a sitter with Benjelloun beaten but his attempt was cleared from the goal-line. On the hour, the Gozitans finally managed to score through an opportunistic goal by club icon Daniel Farrugia, who somehow managed to head the ball behind Benjelloun from a goalmouth melee’. On 64 minutes, Matthias Said rushed through the left flank to cross the ball splendidly towards Kurt Borg who headed wide. Benjelloun was called back into action on 69 minutes, turning a Wellington attempt into a corner after another excellent attack from the left flank. Ten minutes later, Borg doubled with a splendid goal from just outside the box and barely a minute later, Mbong tapped in the third goal in the rebound from a combined Borg and Wellington effort.

Match Report by MFA MatchCentre