Malta Under-16s ease past Gibraltar in second match

MALTA           6GIBRALTAR   0 In a one-sided encounter, Malta beat Gibraltar 6-0 in their second match from the UEFA Youth U-16 Development Mini-Tournament, played at the Centenary Stadium. It was a richly-deserved win for the team led by Noel Turner as they dominated from start to finish. Malta produced an impressive performance in the first half. Despite playing against the strong wind, they still managed to establish a 3-0 half-time lead. The hosts opened the scoring on 13 minutes with a tap-in from Kurt Buhagiar who concluded a flowing move. In the 35th minute, Gibraltar defender Zac Olivero was sin-binned for eight minutes after illegally stopping Mattia Veselji who was racing into the box. A minute later, Veselji made it 2-0 for Malta with a perfect half-volley after latching on to a precise through-pass. Veselji made it 3-0 from close in on the stroke of half-time. Turner made four substitutions during the break. According to the tournament regulations, all players in the squad of the participating teams must get a specified amount of playing time.One of these substitutes, Glen Mifsud, had a good opportunity to extend Malta's advantage to four goals but his effort came off the side-netting.In the 49th minute, Kurt Desira made it 4-0 for the Maltese after some good work on the right.Five minutes later, Nikolai Farrugia Cross, another substitute, scored an excellent goal with an angled shot from just outside the box to make it 5-0 in favour of Malta.With four minutes left, Gibraltar substitute Shaylon Hanglin diverted the ball into his own net as he attempted to clear a goalbound shot.Malta thus won 6-0 to take their tally to five points after their win over Andorra on penalties on Saturday.In the first match on Monday, Andorra beat Liechtenstein 1-0.The tournament concludes on Wednesday at the Centenary Stadium. Andorra face Gibraltar at 10am and Malta take on Liechtenstein in the final match at 2.30pm.  MALTAMiguel Spiteri (Matthias Debono 41), Sheldon Mizzi, (Matthew Ellul 57), Gianluca Borg, Luke Musu, Isaac Galea (Kurt Galea 41), Gianluca Sciberras, Karl Mohnani (Jordan Kelly 57), Emerson Camilleri (Glen Mifsud 41), Kurt Desira (Jake Bone 57), Kurt Buhagiar, Mattia Veselji (Nikolai Farrugia Cross 41). GIBRALTARJohn Paul Hernandez, Sam Hall (Jermain Sodi 76),  Nikolai Celecia, (Shaylon Hanglin 76), Zac Olivero, Louis Parral, (Jerome Duarte Chipol 67), Craig Galliano, Shay Jones (Anthony Barcelo 67), Julian Del Rio (Jacy Perera 53), Dylan De Los Santos (Sam Yeo 53), Evan De Haro, Brendan Ramagge. Referee: Massimo Axisa (Malta).