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28 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JANUARY 2020 SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINE BORG SENGLEA and Sirens earned a point each as they shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw. Sirens experienced an excel- lent first round in which they managed to collect a total of twenty-four points from thir- teen matches. Conscious that the season is far from over, the newly promoted side came into this match looking to continue from where they left off during the previous year. On the other end, Senglea are once again struggling. The Cottonera side lie at the lower end of the table and need to start gaining points in order to climb up in the table. Such scenario meant that Senglea's committee decided to ap- point Giorgio Roselli as their new coach. Roselli took Mario Muscat's place. These two sides drew 1-1 during their first round match. Both teams had their fair share of possession during the early stages of the match. In fact, much of the play took place inside the centre of the pitch. Supporters had to wait till the 21st minute to witness a chance on goal. Sean Cipriott's delivery from a free-kick was met by Jose Wilkson Teixeira whose header stamped off the post. Senglea threatened Sirens once again five minutes later. Cipriott's shot from a free-kick ended up marginally wide. As time went by, Senglea grew more into the game and forged ahead on the 35th min- ute. Teixeira drilled a low cross from the right flank that went into the path of Marcelo Dias who smashed the ball inside the net from close range. Sirens equalised just four min- utes later. Following a cross, Flavio Cheveresan served Ro- mario Memezes and the latter hit a low shot from inside the penalty area that gave Senglea's goalkeeper no chance. Sirens made a good start to the second half and went close on the 65th minute. Memezes fired a powerful strike from a free-kick that forced a good save from Matthew Farrugia. However, Senglea regained their lead on the 68th minute. Substitute Ricardo Theodoro De Almeida took hold of pos- session inside the penalty area and made no mistake from close range. Sirens levelled the score again one minute from time. Debu- tant Edward Herrera sent a cross shot that hit the post be- fore ending up inside the net. Senglea Athletic starting line-up: Matthew Farrugia, Sigitas Olberkis, Dejan Debono, Elvis Sakyi, Manolito Micallef, Jose Wilkson Teixeira, Jan Tanti (Connor Zammit-74), Sean Cipriott, Wilfried Zam- ble (Ricardo Theodoro-63), Anderson Carneiro Do Nasci- mento, Marcelo Dias Sirens starting line-up: Da- vid Cassar, Ryan Grech, Wel- lington De Oliveira (Siraj Eddin Arab-78), Raphael Dos Anjos, Emmanuel Okoye (Edward Herrera-84), Andrian Borg, Ige Adeshina Abdullahi, Romeu Romao, Lucas Romario Me- mezes, Thiago Espindola, Fla- vio Silva Cheevresan Referee: Daniel Portelli Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Ivan Galea Fourth Official: Glen Tonna BOV Player of the Match: Marcelo Dias (Senglea) Sirens leave it till 89th minute to level with Senglea Senglea Athletic Sirens 2 2