On Saturday, Sannat Lions won the 60th championship of the Gozo Football Association with a victory against SK Victoria Wanderers. The Lions were determined not to let this second chance to clinch the title escape from their hands.

They made up for the defeat conceded in their previous match that gave the opportunity to Ghajnsielem to reach them at the top of the table with an excellent performance that was also followed by a sizeable crowd of Sannat supporters ready to celebrate the title after an absence of 19 years.

This was the 9th title for Sannat. Overall it was a deserved honour. Except for the first two matches of the championship they were always within the top positions and above all they managed to recover quickly from the negative performances and results, resisting the challenge that came from Victoria Hotspurs, SK Victoria Wanderers and Ghajnsielem.

Most probably the most important factor for their success was that President Teddy Bajada and coach Adeodato Spiteri decided on a basic formation at an early stage and managed to make up with good substitutes for the injuries and suspensions.

They had a solid defence marshaled by Mario Azzopardi and assisted by Justin Agius and Andrew Debono. A hard working midfield through Mark Muscat, Mark Formosa together with Benneth Njoku and Sandro Brazelino, and an effective strikers through Fernando de Andrade, John Camilleri and veteran Sabri Rais.

For This was the last match of the championship, the Lions needed just one point from this encounter to clinch their 9th title in their histor. The Wanderers tried to honour the fixtures with a positive performance as their final position on the standing has already been established. The two sides had some regular players missing mainly due to injuries. The most important was undoubtedly Sannat’s Brazilian striker Fernando de Andrade who could not make it to challenge Victoria Hotspurs’ Martin Hanus for the top-scorer honour.

After the match the President Mr Alvin Grech and GFA General Secretary Mr Joe Bajada presented trophies and medals to all the players, in the presence of other GFA officials and the jubilant supporters.

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