Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1181922
29 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 NOVEMBER 2019 BOV PREMIER LEAGUE SPORTS FOOTBALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOMINIC BORG Balzan held by Senglea Senglea Athletic Balzan 2 2 SENGLEA Athletic fought back from two goals down to hold Balzan in a 2-2 draw. Balzan are struggling in the Premier League and find them- selves in the bottom half of the table. They were also coming from a disappointing defeat against Sirens. On the other end, Senglea started well, but their recent results were far from convinc- ing. In fact, Senglea's last win was registered on the 14th of September against Mosta. Mario Muscat's men started the match one point ahead of Balzan. The first half of the match was unexciting with the major- ity of play taking place inside the centre of the pitch. Balzan managed to score early and preferred to defend their lead. This made it difficult for Sen- glea to react. In fact, the Cot- tonera side failed to create a single chance on goal. Balzan made a bright start to the match and forged ahead on the 12th minute. Ricardo Calixto Correa Duarte was bought down inside the penal- ty area and the referee pointed towards the spot. Andrija Ma- jdevac stepped up and con- verted. Jacques Scerri's men threat- ened Senglea again on the 40th minute. Following a free-kick, Augustine Loof's header was cleared off the line by Mirko Todorovic. The ball fell for Stefan Dimic who finished off target. The tempo of the match re- mained slow during the second half. However, Senglea showed better ideas and also managed to obtain a point from the match. Majdevac doubled Balzan's lead on the 64th minute. The Serbian hit a thumping shot from the edge of the penalty area that gave Matthew Farru- gia no chance. Balzan were unlucky not to score again four minutes later. Steve Pisani's cross from a cor- ner stamped off the upright. However, none of Balzan's players made contact with the ball and Senglea cleared their marks. Senglea pulled one back on the 77th minute. Sean Mintoff fouled Wilfried Zamble inside the penalty area and the ref- eree ordered another penalty. Manolito Micallef took charge of the spot kick and placed the ball past Balzan's goalkeeper. Jose Wilkson Teixeira scored Senglea's equalising goal on the 90th minute. Jan Tanti de- livered a cross into the path of the substitute who slotted the ball inside the net. Senglea Athletic starting line-up: Matthew Farrugia, Sigitas Olberkis, Leighton Grech, Manolito Micallef, Taisei Marukawa (Andrei Spi- teri-78), Sean Cipriott (Jan Tanti-70), Wilfried Zamble, Mirko Todorovic, Anderson Carniero, David Xuereb (Jose Wilkson Teixeira -45), Mar- celo Dias Balzan starting line-up: Sean Mintoff, Augustine Loof, Aleksandar Kosoric, Steven Pisani, Steven Bezzina, Mi- chael Johnson, Paul Fenech, Uros Ljubomirac, Stefan Dimic (Arthur Faria Machado-61), Ricardo Calixto Correa Duarte, Andrija Majdevac (Alfred Ef- fiong-78) Referee: Alan Mario Sant Assistant Referees: Luke Portell, Paul Apap Fourth Official: Alex John- son