Xaghra and Qala remain in serious relegation trouble..

Xaghra United and Qala St Joseph obtained a point each from a draw of two goals in the first match of the second round of the championship. With this result, the two teams remain in serious relegation trouble, although the Saints have a two point lead over the same Xaghra and Kercem Ajax. The main protagonist of the match was undoubtedly Qala’s goalie Inim Aktpan, who produced a series of difficult saves in the second period when his side was player with a player less on the field.

Qala saw more of the ball during the first part of the match and play took place mainly in Xaghra’s half. However, the Blues controlled well and created the first dangerous action in the 15th minute when a free kick by Leandro Blanco de Castro hit the post. The Saints replied three minutes later with a low shot by Joseph Xerri that was well saved by goalie Donald Gauci. In the 21st minute Qala’s goalkeeper Inim Aktpan was called to save a good shot by John Camilleri and ten minutes later the same goalkeeper was well placed to stop an effort by Daniel Bartolo following a wrong clearance by Qala’s rearguard. In the 32nd minute Qala’s Andreas Fotso concluded badly from close distance following a melee at Xaghra’s goalmouth, but the same player left his side with a player less on the field in the 35th minute when he was sent off for a foul on Joseph Bartolo. Qala were not demoralised and in the 41st minute an effort by Charlie Attard from a pass by Denis Abela ended over the crossbar. However, the Saints managed to open the score in the first minute of stoppage time of the first period. Xaghra’s rearguard cleared a corner kick by Joseph Xerri, Charlie Attard was well placed, took the rebound and placed in goal with an excellent first timer.

Xaghra produced a reaction after the break. In the 54th minute Alex Ribic hesitated in the area after receiving an inviting cross by John Camilleri and the same striker had a good shot from close distance blocked by the defence five minutes later. However, Ribic made up for the two missed chances in the 72nd minute when the Serbian striker levelled the score. Ribic controlled a low cross by Sam Frank Bajada and placed out of Aktpan’s reach after releasing himself from his direct opponent. Xaghra kept insisting and in the 78th minute an effort Philip Attard was saved by goalie Aktpan. Qala replied with a weak shot by substitute Clayton Caruana that was saved by goalie Donald Gauci. In the following two minutes, Xaghra lost two very good scoring opportunities through Alex Ribic who had shots on separate action blocked by substitute Ivan Grech and goalie Aktpan respectively. Qala’s goalie saved the point for his side with another good intervention on Alex Ribic in the 89th minute following a through pass by Sam Frank Bajada and one minute later from a corner kick by Ribic, John Camilleri headed wide.

I wasn't at the game since I had Jac's surprise party. so this article is thanks to www.gozofootball.net

It's gonna be a bad game against Nadur since most of our players are hurt.. but we'll still try.. go maroons!!

kercem and qala.. a draw..

well... better than a loss for sure.. we needed just a draw or a win.. we should have got the win but the b***** ref wasn't neutral as usual.. the final score was 1 -1..

we were winning in the first half.. it was going quite well.. Pietru scored in the 19th minute.. it was an excellent goal.. then Andreas scored but the assistant ref said it was a hands.. blah.. we also had an offside scored.. then they had a chance and scored.. for once it wasn't ini's fault.. lol.. he did some excellent saves.. he was his usual self..

brian got hurt really badly.. he got a kick and he got hurt badly... the red cross weren't there so at least there was pawlu our president and he gave him first aid.. he was taken to hospital.(hes still there after three days.. get well soon bri!!)

so we got the draw.. at least another point... lets see what we ll do against Xaghra!! Go maroons forever and a day!!

Tc and cya at the ground!!

another loss..

well.. sad to say it was another loss.. the f***ing 4th one in a row... we were without Ini Aktpan the g.. x xejxa played instead of him but he played quite well for his first game in the 1 st division old boys league.. lol.. we lost 6 1.. 5 in the first half and one in the second half..

the game was quite well.. we played quite well but not good enough.. we still lost.. mario mifsud scored our goal.. we had a couple of chances but were lost.. they scored on nearly every scoring opportunity..

sorry this is so brief but im not feeling too well.. and i have left it for quite long.. lol.. so cya next sunday at the game against kercem.. hope its a win now..

btw man of the match goes to pawlu camilleri cos he was just awesome..

cya and tc..

another loss..

So... we lost again *cry*.. We didn't play exceptionally, but the referee wasn't a neutral side either.. lol.. so, we lost 5 1 to Ghajnsielem (tat toqba)..

We got a goal in the second minute and that was quite bad.. we had a couple of good shots but the goals didn't come.. but then the worst part was at the 38th minute where the f***ing ref gave the red card to our goaler for totally nothing.. even the opposite supporters said that.. what he did was just he caught the ball.. but Doda or what his name is "sort of" fell and our goaler was seen as fauling him badly.. blah blah blah.. Charlie Attard was taken out so that the reserve goaler could come in.. the reserved was Joseph Xerri.. more known as ix xejxa.. it was his first game this season with the old boys.. he had only played one game with the u 21s.. he had a penalty which of course he did not keep from coming in.. so the score was 2 0.. but before half time Doda scored another one.. so them 3, us 0..

After resumption, most of the game was in mid field.. Qala played better than the first half.. but still we did not score.. but then the score became 3 1 when we were awarded a penalty and mario put it after their gk.. They scored another 2 in the 87th and 2nd minute of extra time.. the result ended being 5 1..

Here i wanna say congrats to the reserve goaler.. all of us were really impressed with his performance.. he did some good saves that most of us were astonished.. hope he feels better for the next game because he hurt his hand..

The man of the match goes to 3 men.. Andreas Fotso for his performance and he showed his never say die attitude in this game.. Joseph Xerri for his brilliant performance.. And last but not least Joseph Xerri II for his awesome game.. even though he had some goals scored against him, he played extremely well for his first time..

That's all for now.. hope that next week's game against Sannat is better.. even though i think we ll be without Aktpan..

So, see you at the ground as usual..
Tc and GO MAROONS FOR EVER AND A DAY!!

The yellow card..

Well well well... I hadn't been to the ground for nearly a month so it was quite great to be back there again.. It was at the Sannat ground since the Xewkija ground is still growing its lawn.. lol..

We went and as usual it was a laugh.. Because where there is the Qala supporters there are great people.. lol.. So.. first of all we played against Zebbug.. They are second division.. and they quite showed.. well.. the game was for the GFA cup.. which is going to commence in May..

The game started quite well where Qala had most of the shooting opportunities.. First Dione Lautier had a good shot but it hit the woodwork.. It was better than his usual self.. lol.. Andreas did a great job.. He broke their defence system but the shoot went a couple of inches wide.. blah.. Ini Aktpan did a couple of good saves.. For once at least he did his job.. lol..

During the first half one of our players did a hands ball by mistake and one of the very knowing Zebbug supporters said it was a yellow card.. So then every time something happened, we said it was a yellow card..

During the second half we also had a couple of good chances.. By Dennis Abela, Dione Lautier and Joseph Xerri.. but we didn't score.. *cry* So then we had to go into extra time.. During the first half nothing really happened.. But during the second half we scored!! Thanks to Andreas Fotso (who btw has a really nice name.. lol.. friends and bf know why..) But then 3 minutes later Mario Mifsud got his second yellow card and was sent off.. *cry*

So, back to the Zebbug supporter.. When we scored she said that we nearly didn't score against a second division team.. And then Mario harbat told her why don't you put the yellow card in your ***.. I never thought he would say that.. lol.. She just went red and said nothing.. lol..

So we won.. We'll be against another team in May.. Our next game is on the 25th November 2007 against Ghajnsielem.. It's a league game..

Btw the man of the match goes to Andreas Fotso and Dione Lautier.. They were the best players around..

So you Qala S.J. supporters.. cya in two weeks time at the ground.. Till then, take care and always be good..

Qala St J. make sure of victory with first half goals..

Qala St Joseph defeated second division leaders St Lawrence Spurs and obtained qualification to the quarter finals of the GFA cup. Qala’s victory arrived with the least possible effort, but risked to complicate matters as they found themselves in some difficulty to control St Lawrence’s reaction. They match was played in difficult weather conditions due to heavy rain. The second half had to start around twenty minutes late since the pitch was not fit for play.

Qala took command of play and opened the score in the 15th minute through a goal by Joe Xerri who surprised goalie Samuel Micallef directly from the corner kick. The Spurs failed to produce a reaction and Qala’s superiority was converted into another goal that arrived in the 34th minute. It was Joe Xerri who entered the area following a pass by Andreas Fotso and placed behind goalie Micallef with a low shot.

St Lawrence produced a good reaction after the break and the maroons suffered some pressure. The Spurs could have re-opened the issue especially through scoring opportunities that arrived to Oliver Farrugia and Adalberto Goncalves. Qala had an opportunity to seal the issue in the final stages through a free kick by Mario Mifsud that was well save by goalie Samuel Micallef.

(Sorry but i didn't go to the match since nobody of the group went and it was raining as well.. So i decided to put here the article that was written on the www.gozofootball.net site.. Thanks to them!)

When the lights went off..

Well.. we lost this game.. The second one in a row I must say.. But now in this round we've played against all the though teams.. The easier teams are left.. lol.. So we lost 3 -1 to the Hotspurs.. In this game we showed that what we really need is a striker..

The game ended 3 -1, a win to the Hotspurs.. Our goal was scored by Brian Portelli in the 82nd minute.. They scored their goals two in the end of the first half and the other one at the extra time of the second half..

Qala were without Andreas Fotso and Mark Bonello due to suspension.. Their missing was felt by the team.. But, that's how it was..

I think for me this was one of the funniest games even though we lost.. In the first half nothing really funny happened, but in the second half a lot happened.. First, after a couple of minutes of the second half the ground lights went off.. After nearly half an hour without lights and the game stopped, they said it was due that the generator had no diesel left.. So they had to go and but some more.. lol.. Then after the lights came back, there were some old Hotspurs supporters behind us.. They were saying things like "why don't you remove Dione from there, he's too old!!" and he was like 65.. How can he say Dione is old when he is probably twice his age!! lol..

He was also toothless and he was just saying stupid things.. And since we were a group of about 12, we responded him back.. We were just laughing our head off..

So. now for the serious part.. The Man of the match.. I think I'll give it to Paul Camilleri.. He really played awesomely.. He is this quiet player that isn't a big head but he's really great.. So I'll give it to him..

Hope that from now on I'll have time to go to the ground and write this blog since from next Monday I'll be starting school.. Hope that everything goes well and that from now on I'll be writing about winning not loosing.. lol..

Cya at the ground and tc..

the final...

we lost the game with the penalties!! if u read my last post you should have known that we had done really badly in the result for our last game with them.. but the last game was just awesome.. we kept Nadur a draw the whole game and even during the half hour extra time.. but the during the penalties.. we just lost.. we lost during penalties for 3 1..

our players played really well.. lets start with that.. i ll give them the full credit.. when me and my great team of supporters arrived we were thinking that well lose from the beginning.. but we were proved wrong..

Dione scored our goal.. it was a great one and i think that was the best chance for us to score.. he just skipped all their defenders and put the ball in the back of the net.. it was totally a wow.. ive just seen the video of it.. he got the ball past the 3 defenders.. and when the goaler went for him he tried to catch the ball from the floor but Dione skipped him and the ball just went in!!

The goal they scored was Ini's fault they said.. He didn't catch the ball for sure but cant see if by mistake or something else.. my sis said it wasn't by mistake but i think it was.. i don't think our gk was bought.. for this game at least..

Mark and Andreas got the red card for Qala while Frank Paul(the sore loser) got it for Nadur..
it was a great game.. for our team at least cos Nadur had in mind that they'll win easily.. but that wasn't the plan..

sorry but forgot to give the Man of the Match.. In fact i don't know to who I should really give it.. i think Glenn and Brian and Dione deserve it the most though.. But even Mark and Xerri, Andreas and Gattuso.. so I think I'll give it to all the team cause they all did very well..

so see you at the next game.. you players.. rest cos u ll be against the newly promoted hotspurs..

and u fans.. be at the ground to give support..

tc and cya at the ground on 3rd October..

The money problem..

We have lost against the team that is the favourite to win this year's League. It was a hard game for us since we had A LOT of injuries.. The worst one is Glenn's I think with a couple of fractured ribs.. He still played and played really well for the injury he had.. but we have some other injuries.. The injured players still played so.. Brian got the red card during the last game so he was suspended.. He was at the ground (looking like the FBI hehe)..

Well we lost 3 0.. We got the goals during the second half.. The first was a small mistake by Andreas and Ini.. everyone does mistakes don't they?? He tried to help by not us getting a corner but it ended up a bad choice.. somebody from that shitty team scored.. don't even wanna know who..

After a couple of minutes.. they scored another one.. this was our goalie's fault though.. btw he played very badly during this game.. (money was even talked of so I'd better say nothing more).. the third goal in another couple of minutes... another easy goal for them..

it was good during the first half.. we lost a gr8 opportunity that would have changed the whole situation i think.. but what can we do now?? just talk about it..

The man of the match goes to 3 players.. cause me and my sis Jessie couldn't decide who played the best.. They are Glenn Cefai, Andreas Fotso and Ivan (Gattuso)..

so.. cya next Friday at 4pm for the final against Nadur again.. hope that it's a better score.. cya and tc..

Another great win for the Saints

Well, well, well.. I was afraid that we might loose this game, or at least get a draw, cause I was still afraid that Xaghra might have a great team like last years. (btw last year we lost to them 5-0, 5-2 and a draw of 2-2..) But this year I think that WE are gonna kick their ass.. sorry for the pun.. Because we WON 2 - 0 thanks to our beloved Dione and an auto goal by their coach player Leondro Blanco De Castro.. Personally i really don't like this player cos when he last year was with Ghajnsielem he really used to tease when they scored.. so this year it was us who did the teasing.. lol..


The first goal was in the third minute.. It was an angled shot by Andreas Fotso which was deflected by de Castro.. This surprisedhis colleague between the goal posts Donald Gauci (il-papa) and he let it in.. lol.. The second goal came after 4 minutes when Dione Lautier won a ball outside the area and placed it out of l-papa’s reach with a shot from the edge of the area.


Xaghra had most of the scoring opportunities, but our super gk Ini Aktpan (known as ix-xadina, or the monkey because of his beautiful saves) saved all of them..


Xaghra scored an offside goal which did not add as a goal.. of course..







Brian Portelli got sent off on the 85th minute after a second caution..





A lot of players got the yellow card in this game because wasn't kept to a minimum.. Imagine, the Xaghra players began fighting even because they thought that a throw in should be theirs.. blah..

But still we won.. So our next game is against our wanna be tenth time champions Nadur Youngsters next Sunday at 4pm.. You supporters be there cause we wanna show that we are great..

Qala have 4 games in 12 days.. That's a lot for a part time team.. But still we've performed beautifully in the first 2 games with a win against Ghajnsielem and another one against Xaghra.. Hope we do the same in the next two games, both against Nadur Youngsters..

So cya at the ground you Maroon supporters.. Tilll then, cya and tc..

Cya at the final now..

I told you in my last article that we are gonna win.. And did I predict right?? Yes I did!! It was an awesome game and I think it was even more exciting than last years' decider.. Because it was without scoring.. So even more difficult.. We won it by penalties 4-2!!

I don't know what to say really.. You had to be there to feel all the excitement.. Me and my friends were like praying on the floor that we win.. The game was played with only 10 players for nearly all the game for us because Pawlu got the frickin' red card..

The players all played well.. But, my Man of the match will go to Ini Aktpan because he did a couple of just great saves with which he helped us win the game.. But he isn't the only good player.. Pawlu, even though he got the red card only after some time, he played really well too.. I'm not gonna continue with all the players or else I would need the whole blog.. lol..

Now we are going to play in the final against our rivals Nadur.. Don't have really high hopes.. Just wish that we do well.. But we'll do for sure..

Cya next Wednesday at the ground for the first League game against Xaghra..

Cya and tc..

Pictures courtesy of http://www.gozofootball.net/

Kercem? Ghajnsielem?

So.. Ghajnsielem won and they have the great opportunity to play against us.. Although they are gonna loose..

Next Sunday, at least if it doesn't rain, we're gonna play against Ghajnsielem.. Their team won against Kercem Ajax last Sunday 2 - 1.. But.. Ghajnsielem have a big problem becuase their captain, Frankie Buttigieg (who is related to me but I don't wanna try and explain how), has gone to Savina (blah) for a years' spell.. Because he had a personal problem..

so Ghajnsielem, be prepared to loose against Gozo's best team (always in my opinion at least).. hope that the next time i write it is a win..

cya at the ground and tc guys..

Friendly against Xewkija Tigers

Well.. the friendly.. I personally wished that we won the game.. But we didn't.. But it was still a good game to watch.. not that there were many supporters from any team around..

Well, me and my crazy female friends decided that we wanted to see this game.. so we went..and btw.. we were the only ones there.. so.. the game started..

The starting Qala players were- Ini Aktpan, Dennis Abela (Matthew Zammit), Glenn Cefai, Jonathan Muscat (Noel Mizzi), Paul Camilleri, Clayton Caruana (Dione Lautier) (Bradley Hili), Andreas Fotso, Joseph Xerri (Jason Bonello), Mark Bonello, Christian Portelli (Daniel) and Mario Mifsud..

The ref.. well I'd better not talk about him.. He's not a real approved ref.. And our nickname for him is pizellu.. Cause if you see a pea and you see him I'd say you're seeing the same thing.. lol.. And the linesman was the foreign Xewkija player.. not biased I suspect.. hehe..

The game wasn't really so good and wasn't either a game that would leave you with your mouth open either.. Qala didn't attack so much.. I think we still need an attacker cause the players we have are good but not the scoring type..

The game ended in the score of 2-1 and we lost.. Our goal was scored by Andreas Fotso, our new acquisition.. Btw.. Christian Portelli isn't on loan any more and he's back with us.. woo..

I was really impressed by the thrre youngsters.. i.e. Bradley, Clayton (zbibu) and Matthew.. First of all I didn't know that Matthew played football and let alone played so well.. I knew Bradley was quite a good player cause at school (such a long time ago..) he was one of the best in class.. I also knew that zbibu was good.. I only hope that he keeps his temper in place cause it can only bring trouble.. But good luck to the three of them..

So.. that's all for now.. Cya at the ground on Sunday 9th September against either Kercem Ajax or Ghajnsielem.. Tc..

Official Transfers

So... yesterday night the official transfers have been listed.. Most of them had been gossiped about so they were not so much of a surprise. But for those that don't have ears near the Qala S.J. committee it was quite a surprise cause they just thought that we were going to play with just a couple of players from the village.. But as usual, we proved them wrong..

So this is what I think will be the new squad..

Well, there will be Nigerian Dom(Ini)c Aktpan(he's known with us gozitans as Ini but his real name is Dominic.. lol..) between the goal posts as the last round a half last year.. Us fans will be looking forward to his trademark back flips that he used to do..

Then, as defenders there will be local boy Glenn Cefai with his usual gr8 saves and Brian Portelli that returns to the team for another year, but although on loan, he plays his usual best..

Paul Camilleri, more known as Pawlu, has decided to stay on the team for his third consecutive year..

For this year, the local goalkeeper Kenny Grima was swapped with a player that had been in the team last year, that is Dione Lautier. Kenny will be playing with Orathory Youths for a one-year term.

After only a year's term with Qala S.J., we had to say good bye to Congolese midfielder Rufin Oba. He was loved by everyone, but not always everything that the fans want happens. But taking his place will be ex-Xewkija Tigers Andreas Fotso. This 23-year-old player was one of the best players Xewkija had last year before going back to the Second Division.

Another player that was got from Nadur Youngsters was Charlie Attard. He played with Qala last year for half the season. My ex-neighbour did really well last year and we all hope that he does the same this year..

Then there are the Qala boys.. There is Mario Mifsud who won the best player last year; Mark Bonello and Dennis Abela. I think they will continue to play.. I also hope that Joseph Xerri, more known as ix-Xerri, will continue to play even though he is now in his 35th year..

Two local boys that I did not think that they were training with the big boys were Clayton Caruana and Bradley Hili.. But they had always shown that they were good in this game.. I can talk about Bradley most because since we were in school he was always one of the best in this game..

One has to keep in mind that the transfer window is still open.. so.. never think that Qala S.J. are finished doing their work..

Cya at the ground and tc..

Cups fixtures

Well, these are the fixtures for the cups for the team.. Will give the First Division League fixtures later on..

• The first game of the season is a friendly against Xewkija Tigers on Friday 31st August, 2007 at 6pm.
• Then there are the cups. For the Independence Cup, we are going to play the first game in the semifinal.. no quarter finals for us.. It's gonna be on the 9th of September either against Kercem Ajax or Ghajnsielem.. Then if we win the semi final, (which i wish we do) we will play in the final against either Nadur Youngsters or Sannat Lions or Victoria Hotspurs or Xaghra United.. The final will be held on the 21st of September, 2007.
• For the GFA Cup, we will be playing the preliminary game against St. Lawrence Spurs on the 14th of October, 2007. Then in the quarter finals, always if we pass, (which i think we will), we will play against either Zebbug Rovers or Munxar Falcons *wink*.. Then, always if we pass, we will play against either Kercem, Savina, Gharb or Oratorju.. Till now all the teams were quite easy, but then in the final we would have to face the First Division teams.. They would be either Hotspurs or Xaghra or Nadur or Xewkija or Sannat.

I think that Qala have a really good chance that maybe we can see one of these Cups at the clubhouse near Gnien il-Familja..

That's all for now.. Cya at the game next Friday..

Welcome

So, my name is Loren Buttigieg from Qala and I have decided to do this blog about the best football team on Earth, or it is at least for me and other people who support this great team. The team is called Qala St. Joseph Football Club. The team is named after the village it comes from and after the patron of this small village, that is St. Joseph.

The football season is going to start in about 2 weeks, so in this time I will be giving updates about which players have joined and the others that have left.. You will even hear about some gossip that is going around.. So.. take time to check regularly.. Lol..

That's all for now. Btw.. Qala S.J. have the first match this coming Friday at 6pm against Xewkija Tigers. It's a friendly but it still is important cause we will see who the new players are..

Cya at the ground.. Tc..