St Joseph go top of the table with 7-0 win

St Joseph endured a frustrating first half against Europa Point. Although Banda was more or less redundant, having seen little action, his colleagues upfield had to wait until after the first half hour to come close to scoring. In the 36th minute, the ball bounced off the woodwork. Two minutes later, a clear chance was sent over the bar.

Slow to begin testing Europa Point’s defence deep inside their penalty area, St Joseph, in their all-yellow strip, were far from their confident and commanding selves.

There was a roar of anger from the small St Joseph crowd when referee Daniel Perez blew for a foul against St Joseph, after players had called for a penalty, claiming the foul had in fact gone the other way.

It was not until a minute into injury time that a perfectly timed one-two finally saw St Joseph break the deadlock. Mende De La Torre side-footed past Tuleda after making space for himself with a run through the middle.

St Joseph, who had last played over nine days earlier — their second defeat of the season having seen them drop into second place behind Lincoln Red Imps — needed the win to maintain their challenge. Victory would momentarily put them top of the table, with pressure on Lincoln Red Imps to beat the Magpies on Thursday in what was the final match of the second round.

With Europa having beaten Manchester 62 5-0 the previous evening, and Lynx not facing Glacis until March 8, while Lions and Hound Dogs were also in action that same day, the final positions in the top six were yet to be fully determined. Mons Calpe were also due to play College 1975 on Wednesday, where a win would take them back into third place.

The top six, however, had already been decided, with Europa Point and Bruno Magpies among the teams finishing their league campaigns — and seasons — early, both also out of the Rock Cup.

For St Joseph, facing a Europa Point side with little left to play for might have seemed, before kick-off, something of a godsend. However, Europa Point had other ideas and were determined to finish their season on a high.

St Joseph ended those hopes early in the second half, scoring four goals within the opening twenty minutes to put the result well beyond reach.

A sixth and seventh followed as St Joseph put their first-half frustrations behind them and walked away with another emphatic victory, further boosting their goal tally this season.

Having conceded only 10 goals in 22 matches while scoring 90, St Joseph boasted both the league’s strongest attack and best defensive record as they returned to pole position — at least until Lincoln Red Imps played.

Only Hound Dogs and Manchester 62 had worse defensive records than Europa Point, whose season ended with 61 goals conceded and just half that number scored. Seven wins, however, saw them finish eighth in the table as they bid farewell to another campaign.