Nadur Youngsters as expected obtained the three points at stake from their match against newly promoted Xewkija Tigers.  However, the victory for the contenders for the honours was more difficult than expected.  The Youngsters held command of play during the first period, where they forced their opponents to defend their area.  However, the Tigers had an impressive reaction after the break and went close to level the score on more than one occasion.  At the end, the match was decided by Nadur’s debutant Fabiano Bassi midway through the first period.

   For this match the Youngsters also had Paul Camilleri who was making a return with the whites after a spell with Kercem Ajax and Qala St Joseph.  Nadur also had Peter Buttigieg who was returning from a suspension but had Saviur Attard missing due to suspension.  The Tigers had Egyptian midfielder Mahmoud Ibrahim Aby who was making his debut and Christian Bugeja who was playing for the first time this season following a suspension.  The Egyptian player suffered from the difficulty of the match in the first part but got involved in Xewkija’s maneuver as time passed by.

  Nadur created their first serious danger on 10 minutes through an effort by skipper Anthony Portelli that was blocked by goalie Joseph Grima.  One minute later another effort by Nadur’s skipper found the goalkeeper well placed to neutralize the danger.  Xewkija replied with an attempt by Rodney Buttigieg that ended wide and on 14 minutes Nadur’s goalie Steve Sultana was called to make a difficult save following a header by Christian Bugeja following a cross by Rodney Buttigieg.  In the 20^th minute Nadur Fabiano Bassi unmarked Josef Buttigieg headed just over the crossbar from a good position.  In the 28^th minute Nadur scored the goal that decided the issue as Claudio Antunes entered the area from the left flank and from his low shot Fabiano Bassi flicked the ball into the corner of the net.  Xewkija were shocked and in the 40^th minute Nadur could have doubled the score when a corner kick by Alex Simonic was not cleared by the defense and an attempt by Antunes was deflected on the crossbar by Joseph Azzopardi with the goalkeeper beaten.  Three minutes later Xewkija’s goalie Grima kept his side in contention with two consecutive saves following a low shot by Bassi and an attempt from the rebound by Charles Hili.

   Xewkija produced an unexpected reaction after the break and Nadur’s rearguard was often in difficulty.  However, Nadur tried to operate some counter attacks and in the 54^th minute an effort by Josef Butigieg following an inviting pass by Bassi was saved by goalie Grima.  In the 63^rd minute Xewkija were close to scoring but Rodney Buttigieg’s lob following a through pass by Joseph Cefai did not surprise goalie Sultana.  One minute later Andreas Fotso had a close ranged header form a pass by Mahmoud Ibrahim that ended just over the crossbar.  In the 68^th minute a first timer by Andreas Fotso missed the target and one minute later Nadur’s goalie Sultana was once again well placed to save with difficulty a effort by Rodney Buttigieg.  Nadur replied in the 70^th minute with a close ranged shot by Bassi that was saved by goalie Sultana and four minutes later an attempt by Antunes form a free kick by Simoncic ended just wide.  Xewkija kept insisting for the remaining minutes but the Youngsters defended well and managed to keep a clean sheet until the final whistle.