Late penalty saves Senglea’s blushes

Senglea Ath Gharghur 1 0

Senglea Athletic had to resort to a late penalty to have the better of bottom of the table club Gharghur in a low profile match. Gharghur played one of their best matches so far this season, as they controlled their oponents with a great display in defence.

On their part, Senglea, fresh from their FA Trophy qualification, found the going hard and were only dangerous from set pieces. The points keep Senglea in the promotion hunt, whilst Gharghur remain firmly at the bottom of the table.

Senglea were with the wind behind their backs in the first half and had an effort from Pablo Doffo on 12 minutes missing the target. A minute later, on the other end, a Karl Conti effort just missed the target.

On 24 minutes a Keith tanto freekick was well saved by Micallef and just before the break another freekick, this time from Ryan Dalli had the same fate.

Things did not change much on the resumption with the Senglea strikers caged in Gharghur’s well organised defensive set-up.

On 62 minutes, Senglea had their best opportunity when Terence Vella headed incredibly over the bar when well placed.

Ten minutes from time substi- tute Juninho Cabral and Vella had their efforts blocked by Micallef and with seven minutes to go, referee Spiteri opted for a penalty when Carlo Gie tackled Cabral, and Ryan Dalli made no mistake from the penalty spot to give Senglea three valuable points.

Senglea A: J. Martinelli, R. Vella, R. Tanti, K. Tanti, C. Guzman, P. Doffo, H. Vella, M. De Sosa Dias (J. Cabral), R. Dalli, T. Vella, A. Obaje

Gharghur: R. Micallef, K. Fedele, K. Conti, I. Chircop, D. Camilleri, S. Mino, L. Galea (C. Zarb), M. Fagbeja, E. De Nicolau Lima (C.Gie) , L. Busuttil, G. Saliba (L. Vella)

Referee: Sandro Spiteri