Lion’s and Magpies in five-goal thriller

Lions Gibraltar FC 3-2 FCB Magpies
Lions goals:
Ndjoli (12 min.)
Hernandez (29 min.) (o.g.)
Marques Alves Silva (76 min.)

Bruno Magpies goals:-
Clinton (58 min.)
Del Rio (83 min.)

Lions took advantage of Bruno’s Magpies’ push forward as they tried to equalise after an early first-half goal.
Just as Bruno thought they were making headway, Lions struck with their second close to the hour mark.
Dylan Borge had posed a constant threat to the Lions’ defence but had not quite found his target.
The second half saw Bruno’s trying to find an early break. In the 49th minute, the Lions keeper had to punch the ball over the crossbar as it crept towards goal.
Bruno’s, with a large part of their team made up of home-grown players, were presenting a formidable opposition as they sought to overturn the score.
By the 58th minute, Bruno’s had continued to press, looking for that goal. Leon Clinton showed some of his magic, pivoting on the same axis just outside the penalty area before unleashing a curler into the top corner to make it 2–1 and add further excitement to what was already an energetic encounter.
In the 62nd minute, a free-kick floated in was first cleared but landed at the edge of the box. Knocked back in, the ball deflected off a defender and squeezed toward the far post, where a last-minute lunge sent it out for a corner. The resulting corner was struck over the bar.
Sensing that Bruno’s were capable of equalising, Lions pressed forward in search of a third goal.
This left the match wide open, with tensions high on the field as both sides battled for the three points.
Anthony Hernández came on in the 67th minute as Bruno’s looked to control the midfield and improve their distribution.
It was now turning into a home-grown battle, with Bruno’s fielding seven local players against Lions’ three. Terence Jolley showed that home-grown players could provide just as much quality on the field as foreign-based ones.
Britto came on for a tired Clinton, and just minutes later, a hurried clearance from him fell at the feet of a Lions player, who smashed it into goal for Lions’ third in the 75th minute.
Bruno’s did not give up hope, and as the game entered its final ten minutes, they struck their second to make it a tense finale as they searched for an equaliser.
Six minutes of injury time were added. Lions came close to adding a fourth but were denied by the Bruno keeper.
Bruno’s had been caught on the hop after pushing forward in search of a goal.