Malta

Premier League

Saturday 2nd March 2024

Kick Off 14.00 On Time!

Hamrun Spartans 1 Valletta 1, attendance 3,000

45’ + 3, 1-0

57’ 1-1

@ Ta’ Qali National Stadium

Triq ta Vnezja

Attard

ATD 4000

€10 Admission

No Programme.

The first match today saw a seven mile bus ride out of Valletta (€2.50 flat rate) to the Ta’ Qali National Stadium, just to the west of the town of Attard. It ended with a fifteen minute walk at the end, rather than a drop off outside the stadium, as roadworks meant the final approach road was closed off and the bus driver knew nothing about it and refused to go round, opting to abort the journey where we were. It certainly didn’t go down too well with a number of locals, one of which rang the bus company to vent his anger at them! As the name suggests, the stadium is home to the national team and has an all seated capacity of 17,797 although only the main stand was in use today, with each team allocated half each and we opted for seats in the Valletta section, purely based on the fact that it was the first ticket booth we arrived at. These are two of the most successful teams as far as Maltese League titles go, with Hamrun having won nine titles and Valletta twenty five (only Sliema Wanderers and Floriana, both with 26 have won more) and Hamrun came into this as league leaders, whilst Valletta are having a poor season by their standards, lying down in twelfth place (out of 14) and are in danger of being relegated.

It was a decent atmosphere, with Hamrun having the larger support, although neither set of fans had that much to shout about. It was a first half of few chances. Hamrun went close early on, but the Valletta ‘keeper kept out a good chance from about eight yards out and it looked as if we’d be heading for the halftime break goalless, but Hamrun managed to break the deadlock three minutes into stoppage time, cutting in from the left and finishing with an angled shot into the far corner, with no time to re-start.

Valletta levelled twelve minutes into the second half, nicking the ball off a defender on his blind side and he tripped the striker just inside the box as he attempted to clear. The penalty was easily saved by the ‘keeper, but the rebound was followed in successfully. The nearest we came to either side getting a winner was when Valletta saw a header from a corner come back off the crossbar with twenty minutes left.

There was plenty of time to make it to the second game of the day, kicking off at 16.30 at Centenary Stadium, handily located no more than 100 yards away, running widthways behind the north end of the National Stadium, although our side of the stand had to exit via the far side of the ground, which basically doubled the distance! What could possibly be easier when doing a double….

Malta

Gozo League

1st Division

Friday 1st March 2024

Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.04

Oratory Youths 1 S.K. Victoria Wanderers 1, attendance 85

61’ 1-0

90’ + 1, 1-1

@ Gozo Stadium

Mgarr Road

Xewkija

Gozo

€3 Admission

No Programme.

A few days away in Malta and the opportunity to visit the second largest and second most populated island of the Maltese archipelago, Gozo. The fast ferry from Valletta, the Maltese capital, to Ghajnsielem, on the southern tip of Gozo, takes 45 minutes to cover the 17 miles and costs just €15 return. From there it is an easy bus ride (flat fare of €2.50) to the ground, which is to the south-east of the island’s capital Victoria, although we continued to the capital itself and later walked back to the stadium, which took around twenty minutes and was pretty much downhill all the way.

The Gozo League consists of two divisions (8 and 6 teams), with the top level games all taking place at the 4,000 capacity Gozo Stadium. Only one side of the ground is open for matches, with 8 rows of seats along most of the length of that side, with a small section of standing at the end, where the toilets and refreshment hut are. The stand is split with designated ends for each club, although unless you are wearing colours, there’s no way of distinguishing who’s who. You just purchased your ticket at the booth that was at the end you wanted to sit in….I just asked for two tickets (in the Oratory Youths end) and was charged €6. It was only when looking closer at the ticket that it stated ‘over 60’ on them. Not too bad for me, as I’m only two years short of that, but the other half certainly wasn’t impressed!

Tonight’s match was bottom of the league table versus third. The standard wasn’t great, although I’d somehow expected it to be a little better than it was. The first half was awful and apart from a fumble by the Victoria ‘keeper just before halftime, from a diagonal free kick into the box, that saw the rebound unbelievably put wide of the post, very little else occurred. The second half improved slightly, helped by Oratory taking an unexpected lead just after the hour mark, when a ball in from the left was controlled and finished with a shot across the ‘keeper into the far corner. Victoria grabbed an equaliser a minute into stoppage time, heading in a left wing cross at the far post. Oratory thought they’d managed to grab a winner, with what turned out to be the last play of the game, but the header from a free kick was ruled out for offside.

There was a second game kicking off after this, but the last fast ferry back to Valletta leaves at 21.15 on a Friday night, so just did the one game. Not sure I’d have fancied another ninety minutes anyway. The bus stop is right outside and the first bus arrived no more than three or four minutes after the final whistle, so back at the port in time to grab something to eat before boarding.