Malta women’s selection beat Bolton Ladies in friendly

A selection made up of Malta women’s national team players defeated Bolton Ladies 2-1 in a friendly match at the MFA Training Grounds on Saturday.   The Maltese girls took the lead late in the first half through Ylenia Carabott before Haley Bugeja doubled the score in the early stages of the second. Bolton pulled one back in the closing stages but Mark Gatt’s team held on to claim victory. Gatt included newcomers, goalkeeper Anna Vincenti and defender Emma Lipman, in his starting XI. The hosts enjoyed more possession in the first half but found it hard to break down Bolton’s backline. As time went by, the Maltese became more dangerous, going close to opening the score through the likes of Lipman and Carabott. The Maltese girls managed to make their pressure count 10 minutes from half-time when Brenda Borg whipped a low cross into the box and Carabott was on hand to flick the ball home. The second half had only just started when the Maltese selection increased their lead through Bugeja who sped past her marker and hit a low shot past the Bolton.  As the second half progressed, Gatt started to introduce new faces to give most of his players some playing time. Bolton reduced the gap with a Ruby Howard goal. MALTA FORMATIONA. Vincenti (77 P. Ebejer), E. Lipman (55 N. Sciberras), S. Farrugia, J. Vella Turner, A. Said (46 C. Cassia), D. Theuma, S. Zammit (46 V. Mifsud), B. Borg (46 H. Bugeja), M. Farrugia (60 M. Borg), A. Sultana (68 S. Buttigieg), Y. Carabott (46 K. Willis).