Żabbar St Patrick outsmart Balzan to secure first win of the season

BALZAN           0

ŻABBAR SP      2

Santos Barroso 2

Gambarte 77 pen.

BALZAN

D. Golovic, S. Arab, M. Grima (63 J. Grech), N. Pulis, I. Westendorf (78 B. hili), h. Stanic, N. Zerjal, K. Williams, U. Akpan, M. Ahadi (46 D. Oluwatobiloba), M. Lima.

ŻABBAR SP

M. Grech, M. Azzopardi, F. Bonilha, B. Gambarte, S. Ilic, Z. Grech (60 D. Souza), D. Tavares, S. Jovancic, J. Mendonca (52 L. Agius), D. Jovicic, M. Barros Santos (85 S. Gatt).

Referee: Glen Tonna.

Yellow cards: Azzopardi, Zerjal, Mendonca, Grech, Bonilha, Barros Santos, Pulis Stanic.

Red card: Zerjal (B) 72.

Żabbar St Patrick broke their duck in the 360 Sports Malta Premier as they scored a goal in each half to overcome Balzan and record their first win of the season.

It was a deserved victory for the Żabbar outfit who produced a resilient performance against their more-quoted opponents

After stunning their opponents with an early opener they defended boldly, giving little space to the Balzan forwards to create any danger.

Żabbar remained focused and sealed the points with a second goal for a win that will give them a lot of confidence after a difficult return to the top flight.

Żabbar took less than two minutes to take the lead when Balzan defender Kevin Williams was dispossessed by Marcel Barros Santos who surged inside the area and drilled the ball past goalkeeper Danilo Golovic

One expected Balzan to fight back but for all their possession they rarely threatened Matthew Grech in Żabbar’s goal.

In fact, they had to wait until midway through the first half to have a shot on target.

Just past the hour mark when Mosawer Ahadi’s delivery from a free-kick was met by Marcel Silva who headed over.

Two minutes from the break Barros Santos again raced clear but as he was about to shoot he was dispossessed by the backtracking Williams.

After the break, Balzan looked more aggressive, but still they were finding it tough to create any danger to an organised Żabbar St Patrcik defence.

The match preserved the same script with Balzan trying to break down Żabbar’s defensive wall with the Saints trying to catch their opponents with quick forays.

Balzan’s quest for an equaliser became much tougher with 18 minutes to go when Zerjal picked up his second yellow card and was dismissed.

It was Żabbar who sealed the points on 77 minutes when David Souza was pulled down inside the area by Nicholas Pulis and from the spot, Brian Gambarte drilled the ball past Goluvic.

Żabbar should have added a third when Souza sped through but opted to find Gambarte but his pass was intercepted by Jake Grech.

At the other end, Akpan headed wide with only Grech to beat.