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.
