National cup

National stadium
Spectators: 1028 (Terracing: 772, Seating: 236, VIP seats: 20) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Dhritiman Judge got the match started through his kick off. India's Bheemarasetti Sahota played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Jonathan Sammut in the 3rd minute of play. The crowd rose to their feet as Malta's Daryl Mizzi slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Bheemarasetti Sahota. That made the score 1-0 after 7 minutes of play. After a rather tough play, Malta's Fabian Duca got a free kick in the 9th minute. In the 10thth minute of the game Kara Bhattacharya who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Malta's Leonardo Da Vinci was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. The audience was convinced that Kara Bhattacharya's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Leonardo Da Vinci was relentless in the 10th minute of the game. Leonardo Da Vinci made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Harcharan Dango in the 11th minute of play. In the 12th minute, John Lennon reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Bheemarasetti Sahota. The goal made the score 2-0. Leonardo Da Vinci took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Dhritiman Judge, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. India's Bheemarasetti Sahota played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by John Lennon in the 18th minute of play. India's Bheemarasetti Sahota proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 21st minute of the match, managed to save India from getting a goal against them. An unexpectedly hard shot by Kara Bhattacharya in the 23rd minute of play forced Malta's goalkeeper Leonardo Da Vinci to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Bheemarasetti Sahota took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from John Lennon, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. If Dhritiman Judge had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 27th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. India's Bheemarasetti Sahota played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by John Lennon in the 29th minute of play. With his leg Bheemarasetti Sahota managed to avoid a goal in the 32ndth minute, when Malta's Jonathan Sammut fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Hariharan Jagur made in the 35th minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by Malta's Evan Vancell. Leonardo Da Vinci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Kara Bhattacharya in the 37th minute of the match. In the 38th minute of the match India got a corner. Malta's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Hariharan Jagur ran over to the corner to take the kick. Bheemarasetti Sahota made a fantastic save in the 40th minute, when Jonathan Sammut sent off a good shot on target. Jonathan Sammut who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 41stth minute tested the skills of Bheemarasetti Sahota when he managed to save the team from getting behind. After 44 minutes of play, Malta's Jonathan Sammut made it 3-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Bheemarasetti Sahota was left in no man's land by his defense there! All the noise was coming from the home fans when the whistle went for half-time. The home team had fought hardest to put themselves in a deserved lead.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Jonathan Sammut made a kick off. Leonardo Da Vinci made an important save on a dangerous shot by Harnek Agrawal in the 53rd minute. Bheemarasetti Sahota took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Jonathan Sammut, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Leonardo Da Vinci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Dhritiman Judge in the 56th minute of the match. In the 61stth minute of the game Jonathan Sammut who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but India's Bheemarasetti Sahota was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Leonardo Da Vinci showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Dhritiman Judge in the 63rd minute of the match. Bheemarasetti Sahota made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jonathan Sammut in the 65th minute of play. Malta made a substitution. Giovanni Demicoli replaced Jean Carl Mintoff. India's Kulisaya Chaturvedi was substituted for Harnek Agrawal. India's Bheemarasetti Sahota played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Giuseppe Preca in the 76th minute of play. In the 77th minute Giuseppe Preca shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Bheemarasetti Sahota saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Giuseppe Preca blasted a shot towards the goal in the 81st minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Bheemarasetti Sahota having to make a save. Bheemarasetti Sahota showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Giuseppe Preca in the 86th minute of the match. Giuseppe Preca received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 87th minute. Bheemarasetti Sahota tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After a rather tough play, Malta's Evan Vancell got a free kick in the 93rd minute. Leonardo Da Vinci made an important save on a dangerous shot by Kulisaya Chaturvedi in the 94th minute. Leonardo Da Vinci showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Harcharan Dango, who was totally free with the ball in the 95th minute. Dhritiman Judge was really disappointed when he shot the ball just outside the right post instead of scoring a goal in the 95th minute. India's manager could be seen on the sidelines shaking his head and muttering to himself as his team had just wasted another chance. Malta were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of India for a fine match.