St Joseph stamp their stake at the top of the league table with outstanding win

St Joseph 4
Europa Point 0

It had not looked like the easiest of ten minutes for St. Joseph against Europa Point as the latter tried to take the game to them. However, as they reached that ten-minute marker, what seemed like a run going nowhere ended with an effort from the edge of the box squeezing past the keeper for St. Joseph’s first goal.
St. Joseph began to exert their dominance on the pitch, with Europa Point digging deep. The Blues found themselves with a lot of space to distribute the ball, although they faced a solid grey wall before them, forcing them to shoot from a distance in the early moments of the first half-hour. Despite controlling possession, St. Joseph struggled to find clear opportunities. Europa Point, for their part, found it difficult to get past the first ten meters of St. Joseph’s half without being chased off the ball.
It was not until the 25th minute that St. Joseph gained their first corner and then a free kick, with a shot from inside the area hitting the post. Moments later, they put the ball over the crossbar.
Europa Point did not trouble St. Joseph’s goal until the 29th minute. With greater space being created, St. Joseph started to prod Europa Point’s defense inside the penalty area. However, Europa Point held out well and restricted the Blues to their solitary goal, with few clear chances until the 42nd minute when Europa Point gave away a penalty. The keeper did well to push the ball away, keeping Europa Point in the game. St. Joseph went into the halftime break with just a one-goal lead, knowing they should have scored at least one more before the break.
It took St. Joseph another ten minutes into the second half to break through Europa Point’s defense and add their second. Already controlling the game comfortably, the second goal gave St. Joseph the confidence to push further, with greater freedom now that they had a secure lead. Their opponents sat deep in defense, closing their path to goal with numbers in front of it. As the game moved into the final half-hour, Europa Point showed no signs of being able to break out from defense.
With 65 minutes played, St. Joseph added a third goal to their tally with a well-worked move, while Europa Point still could not advance far beyond the halfway line when attempting to push forward. St. Joseph’s dominance continued. In the 59th minute, just seconds after coming on, Peña García flicked a header towards the far post from a free kick, with the keeper doing well to keep the ball out. A corner moments later saw Santos tapping in at the far post for their fourth goal.
Europa Point held on as St. Joseph looked for a fifth. Having seen their rivals, Europa, put five past their opponents the previous weekend, St. Joseph sought to match them to ensure any risks of goal difference coming into play would be reduced early in the season. The Blues left no doubt as to their intent for the season. Although they had a disappointing first half in terms of breaking down their rivals’ defense, the second half was a clear display of dominance. Three second-half goals and another clean sheet meant St. Joseph had only conceded once in their first four league matches. Banda hardly touched the ball throughout the second half.
St. Joseph remained close to Europa at the top of the table with their unbeaten run, with Europa leading only because they had played an additional match.