Europa Point out of contention for European place

The first match of the championship stage of the Gibraltar Football League saw Europa Point face Bruno Magpies. The match was a simple case of mathematics for Europa Point on what they were expected to do. With just fifteen points to play for in the Championship stage, and being fourteen points behind Bruno Magpies, the sky blues had only one option: to win if they were to keep open any chance of finishing third, even though this was a long shot. A defeat, or even a draw, would ensure that they would only be playing in this third stage of the league to finish below the European club competition places.

For Bruno Magpies, it was a matter of securing points to secure their place in European club competition football. Four points from the fifteen available to play for would be enough to secure European club competition football once again. Ten points behind the league leaders meant that Bruno Magpies, although still mathematically possible to challenge for the title, would find it very difficult, if not near impossible, to make a realistic challenge.

It was a tense first ten minutes between the two sides, with the referee producing his first yellow cards within this early stage of the match. After an early attempt at goal by Europa Point after just three minutes, the small crowd that had braved the humid levanter evening kickoff had to wait until the 17th minute to see another attempt, this time coming from Bruno Magpies with a shot over the bar. The Magpies were gaining ground slowly as they settled into their game.

Europa Point started to struggle to find their way into Bruno Magpies' half, showing little precision in their passing as they arrived into the first half-hour of the match, resulting in Europa Point giving away possession to a grateful Bruno Magpies. However, the latter lacked that extra edge once they were in possession, which would threaten Europa Point's goal.

While keeping Europa Point in the half for prolonged periods, the chances to test the keeper were not seen until the half-hour mark, when there was some danger near the goalmouth, although this ended up in a goal kick. Slowly prodding at Europa Point's defense, Bruno Magpies started to control possession more and more as Europa Point sunk back into their half in the latter moments of the first half.

In the 35th minute, the Europa Point keeper cleared with his feet by the near post as Bruno's got closer to his goal. Just moments later, a corner kick was flung to the near post area. With the wind swirling in front of the goal, the keeper had some difficulty reaching to clear with a punch. Bruno Magpies regained possession and continued to put pressure on their opponents.

The first half was to finish goalless. Bruno's entered the second half dominating possession and maintained Europa Point in their half for prolonged periods of time. The sky blues found it very difficult to get past the middle third of the field. As the time ticked away, Europa Point started to press further up the field with greater urgency following the calls from their bench, knowing that a draw would keep them in the bottom six and without even the remotest possibility of any European football.

Their pressing, however, opened up space at the back, which saw the Magpies expose and send a cross into the goalmouth in the 68th minute, which took some desperate defending to send to a corner. On the 70th minute, a cross from the flank into the goalmouth passed inches over the heads of players as Bruno maintained that momentum forward but still found it hard to get the final touch. Europa Point found themselves back in their half.

A corner in the 71st minute saw a shot smashed just wide going through the legs of defenders. The sky blues' urgency and pressing forward halted in its tracks, seeing the Magpies once again taking full control of the pace of the game, but the latter without having succeeded in breaking the deadlock.

The Magpies continued to search for a way past a resilient and stubborn Europa Point defensive wall. The closer the match neared its end, the fewer offensive options there were for Europa Point. It was not until the 82nd minute that a long ball from the keeper with a quick counter allowed them a chance to prod at Bruno's defense and earn a corner.

This presented Bruno's with a chance to break quickly, with Europa Point players having advanced their positions. However, a hurried and soft shot from Arguez from outside the penalty area went straight into the keeper's hands. With a minute to go and with a corner in their favor, Bruno head coach Nathan Rooney could be heard shouting to “take it away, one minute left,” as he called for greater urgency to finish off the game and take the three points.

Bruno Magpies, although having dominated the match, dropped two points as they were unable to break the deadlock against a stubborn Europa Point defensive game. Five minutes of injury time saw Bruno's pile on the pressure as much as they could, but with no further success than they had during the ninety minutes.

One point was, however, to benefit Bruno's far more than their opponents. The single point left them with just three more points to secure a place within the top three. For Europa Point, their venture into the top six championship stage of the football league, while historic for the club, left them out of contention for a European place after just the first match in the final round.