Ta’ Xbiex are the winners of the third edition of the Nestle Ice-cream Beach Soccer League when in the final they defeated defending champions AFM 3-2 at the Pretty Bay in Birżebbuġa.
It was the AFM who took the lead after seven minutes of play through Dylan Caruana but Ta’ Xbiex fought back and Ayoub Ahmad restored parity two minutes from the end of the first session.
In the second session, the match turned out to be a hard-fought affair with both sides trying continuosly to find a second goal but to no avail.
The match was decided in the third and final session. Caruana grabbed his second of the match to put the AFM ahead.
But Ta’ Xbiex refused to throw in the towel and goals from Toni Barbara and Ahmad sealed the 3-2 win.
This was a deserved title success for Ta’ Xbiex who after a solid display in the first phase, which saw them beat Għargħur Beach Boys 11-4 and La Playa De Arena 8-4 and losing to the same AFM 5-4 and Mġarr United 11-7 to finish second in Group B.
In the quarter-finals, Ta’ Xbiex had the better of Siġġiewi FSL 5-3 before going on to secure their place in the final when they had the better of Mġarr Unite 11-5.
At the end of the final, MFA president Bjorn Vassallo presented the winners trophy and medals to the Ta’ Xbiex players in the presence of MBSA chief Pio Vassallo, Carlos Abela, from Nestle Ice-Cream, as well as Mark Marlow Beach Soccer director within the MFA.
Matthew Xerxen, of Playa De Arena, was voted as the best goalkeeper while Ta’ Xbiex Ahmad finished as the lead scorer with 16 goals.
Mġarr United’s Brandon Lee Bray was voted as the Best Player of the Tournament.
