Zuniga brace helps Magpies ease past Manchester

Posted on April 17, 2021 by FootballGib

Two second-half goals from defender Francisco Zuniga helped Bruno’s Magpies beat Manchester 62 4-0 last night at the Victoria Stadium.

Photo (C) David Roberts

The match, which saw a crowd of about 30 or so people attend with fans allowed back for the first time, was a straight-forward affair for Magpies, who had benefitted from more rest than their opponents, who had won in the Rock Cup on Tuesday night against College 1975. Magpies saw Kelvin Morgan miss out after picking up his 5th yellow card in the last game, while for Manchester, Mikey Borge took place in goal over Ayden Vinales, who had saved two penalties in the cup shoot-out.

Zuniga had the earliest chance of the game, when he headed over from Alan Parker’s deflected free kick, before Javi Gallardo’s lobbed effort went over both Borge and the Manchester 62 crossbar. Johnny’s side did find the breakthrough not long after though, as Jayce Consigliero’s threaded pass set up Rubo to score his 14th of the season, eight of which have come in the Challenge Group. The striker should have doubled his tally, but headed straight at Borge soon after, before Magpies keeper Alan Martin had to make a smart stop, denying his team-mate Dan Bent from heading into his own goal.

Injuries to Jean-Carlos Garcia, and seemingly also to Jeremy Lopez, either side of half-time, would have concerned Magpies, while Manchester also lost Robert Montovio and Robert Guiling to injuries as well, with the pair now major doubts for next week’s Rock Cup semi-final against Glacis. The second half was a much slower contest as Magpies comfortably extended their lead and ensured no slip in concentration. Zuniga doubled their sides lead from close range after 55 minutes, before the 30-year-old Mexican made it 3-0 from a set piece. Another set-piece would prove to be Manchester’s final undoing, as after some unconvincing goalkeeping, Ruben Diaz appeared to get the final touch to wrap up the game at 4-0.

Lineups:

Bruno’s Magpies: Martin; Garcia (De Haro, 42), Gallardo (Cataruozzolo, 78), Diaz, Zuniga, Lopez (Livingstone, 50), Coombes, Bent, Consigliero, Parker, Rubo (Assumpcao, 78)

Unused Subs: J. Perez, Fernandez, Vinet

Manchester 62: Borge; Sardena (Sanchez, 62), Pereira (Mifsud, 70), Montovio (Farmer, 44), Negrette, Ballantine, Thomas (Asquez, 70), Guiling (Moir, 62), Edzes, Clenahan, Garcia

Unused Subs: McCarthy

Yellow Cards: Ballantine, Thomas

Red Cards: None

Manchester and College share the spoils in six-goal encounter

Posted on April 4, 2021 by FootballGib

Two goals from Robert Guiling were not enough to secure Manchester 62 all three points as College 1975 battled back to draw 3-3 yesterday afternoon.

Photo (C) David Roberts

Robert Montovio started and captained Manchester 62, while for College 1975, Jemar Matto and Adam Gracia came back into the starting eleven from their last match vs Glacis.

Manchester started the faster of the two and went ahead early on, as Guiling was set up by Carl Thomas, before the veteran local lobbed the ball over Mark Warwick in the College goal to put his side ahead. College equalised on the half hour mark, punishing Manchester’s failure to clear the ball with a goal by Luis Gallardo on the volley.

Just before half time, Mariano Pereira put Manchester back in front, after some more good play from Thomas who got his second assist of the afternoon, and five minutes after the break, Guiling got his second to put David Wilson’s side in a seemingly comfortable position.

College would fight back though, and reduced the arrears on 74 minutes through substitute Jose Marin – the sub would prove to be an inspired one as he grabbed College’s equaliser 10 minutes from time to ensure the points were shared. College move a point clear of the bottom now, albeit playing a game more than Europa Point, while Manchester sit in 9th, six points above College but eight behind Glacis.

Lineups:

Manchester 62: Vinales; Pereira (Zammitt, 71), Montovio (Thorne, 71), Negrette, Mifsud (Pizarro, 45), Thomas (Asquez, 78), De Los Santos, Guiling, Edzes, Clenahan, Garcia

Unused Subs: Borge, Moir, McCarthy

College 1975: Warwick; Ramundo (Valero, 89), Mendez, Perez, Matto, Victory (Thorne, 61), Pacheco (Marin, 61), Franco (Hughes, 71), Gracia, Gallardo, Molina

Unused Subs: Migge, Galan, Wahnon

Yellow Cards: Thomas, Clenahan; Mendez, Matto, Gallardo, Hughes

Red Cards: None

Craig Galliano on target in Glacis win

Posted on March 28, 2021 by FootballGib

Craig Galliano assisted one and scored another in Glacis United’s 4-1 win over Manchester 62 on Friday.

Glacis got off to the perfect start when Craig Galliano set up Samson Ajayi to make it 1-0 after only nine minutes. Manchester 62 came battling back and equalised in the 21st minute through inform striker Dylan De Los Santos.

Wessel Witbreuk restored Glacis’ lead in the 30th minute when the Dutch forward tapped in a rebound from Nwosu’s shot before Craig Galliano made it 3-1 just before half-time to give his side a two-goal lead heading into the second half.

Ayden Vinales was called into action early in the half, saving an effort from Miguel Londero. As the half went on, Man62 staff were visibly unimpressed with some decisions not going there way and should have pulled a goal back when Matt Clenahan headed wide from a free-kick.

The impressive Darlingon Nwosu kept up his goalscoring form to wrap up the three points in the 81st minute to make it 4-1 to Glacis and the Nigerians fourth goal in two games.

Lineups

Glacis United – Zappacosta; Smith, Thorne-Llambias (Ramos 65), Castle, Derksen, Bosio, Witbreuk, Galliano (Lopez 75), Ajayi, Nwosu, Londero (Andrullli 79)

Unused subs: Fluxa, Moreno, Borghi, Kaleba

Manchester 62 – Vinales; Casciaro, Pereira (De Torres 66), Thorne (Montovio 46), Negrette (Asquez 46), Ballantine, Thomas, De Los Santos (Mifsud 82), Edzes, Clenahan, Garcia

Unused subs: Moir, Zammitt, McCarthy

Yellow cards: Castle; Ballantine, Garcia, Asquez

Red cards: None

Manchester 62 in comfortable win over Europa Point

Posted on March 21, 2021 by FootballGib

A brace from Dylan De Los Santos and goals from Robert Guiling and Liam Thorne helped Manchester 62 towards a 4-1 victory over Europa Point yesterday.

Photo (C) Rough and Ready

Europa Point saw the likes of Louis Parral, Elias Juel-Saleh and Omar El Yettefti return to the starting lineup, while for Manchester 62, Guiling added more experience back to the starting eleven, while David Moir and Patrick McElwee were among those in the lineup.

It took just over 10 minutes for Manchester to open the scoring, as a low cross from Michael Negrette found De Los Santos who fired his side into the lead. Europa Point equalised 10 minutes before the break through John Stewart’s effort, and the sides went in level at the break.

10 minutes after the break, Manchester would turn to their most experienced player to put them back ahead, as Negrette again played assistant, setting up 40-year-old Robert Guiling who got his first goal in only his second game since returning to football. Two then became three for Manchester as De Los Santos drilled home from the edge of the box to give his side some breathing space.

Substitute Liam Thorne was looking lively, and he wrapped up proceedings by making it 4-1 in injury time after some good play from fellow sub Tito De Torres. Manchester remain in 9th overall (and 3rd in the Challenge Group), but have now opened up a six-point gap on College 1975 and Europa Point below them in the table – Europa Point remain bottom after back-to-back 4-1 defeats.

One other aspect of note was how many Gibraltarians played in the match – Manchester started with seven HGP’s while Europa Point started with six – the pair ended with nine and seven respectively as 22 different Gibraltarian’s played a part in the match.

Lineups:

Europa Point: Tudela; Wilson (McGrail, 79), Parral (Torrilla, 63), Webber, Martin, Martinez (Chiles-Cowell, 63), Juel-Saleh, El Yettefti, Webber, Stewart, McCarthy (Evans, 79)

Unused Subs: Victor, Podesta, Lopez

Manchester 62: Vinales (Borge, 83), Moir (Thorne, 53), Casciaro, Pereira (De Torres, 77), Negrette, Thomas, De Los Santos (Zammitt, 77), Guiling (Mifsud, 77), McCarthy, McElwee, Clenahan

Unused Subs: Montovio

Yellow Cards: Webber, Stewart; Pereira

Red Cards: None

Javi Casares nets double in Magpies win

Posted on March 12, 2021 by FootballGib

Javi Casares’ double helped Magpies remain top of the Challenge Group with a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Manchester 62.

Magpies got off to the perfect start when captain Rubo put his side ahead after only four minutes. The strike partnership of Rubo and Morgan continued to cause the Manchester defence problems but several excellent saves by Ayden Vinales kept the score at 1-0.

Keiron Garcia equalised for Manchester 62 just after the half-hour mark when the Gibraltar U21 international smashed the ball in from close to make it 1-1.

Despite Man62 having two penalty appeals early in the second half, it would be Magpies retaking the lead through Javi Casares tapping in a rebound after Shay Jones’ strike hit the crossbar. 10 minutes later and Keiron Garcia saw red for a tackle on Kelvin Morgan – a poor decision from the referee which left Manchester playing with ten men.

Rubo stepped up and took the resulting penalty which was saved by Ayden Vinales. Casares got his second of the night in the 71st minute before second-half substitute Alan Parker made it 4-1 with six minutes remaining.

Lineups

Manchester 62 – Vinales; Sardena (McElwee 78), De Los Santos (Montovio 78), Negrette, Ballantine, Sanchez (Clenahan 67), Casciaro, McCarthy, Edzes, De Torres (Pereira 61), Garcia

Unused subs: Borge, Moir, Thomas

Brunos Magpies – J.Perez; Garcia, Gallardo, Zuniga (Diaz 46), Jones, Morgan, Fernandez, Bent, Consigliero (B.Perez 46), Casares (De Haro 83), Rubo (Parker 74)

Unused subs: Martin, Livingstone, Marquez

Yellow cards: Vinales, Sardena, McCarthy, Edzes, Garcia; Zuniga, Jones, Consigliero

Red cards: Garcia

Diego Diaz nets brace as Mons run riot

Posted on March 6, 2021 by FootballGib

Diego Diaz scored a first-half brace as Mons made it three wins on the bounce with a 5-0 victory over Manchester 62.

Cesar Vegas’ men came into the game on the back of four games undefeated and raced into a three-goal lead inside 35 minutes.

First Diaz volleyed home a Nathan Santos cross after 14 minutes before Mark Ballester fired in a loose ball from inside the box after 22 minutes when Nathan Santos’ cross was only partially cleared by the Manchester defence.

Mons would find themselves with 10 men after 26 minutes when Ethan Santos needlessly kicked the ball away with his side holding a two-goal lead and already on a yellow, Tim Reoch would show the 22-year old a red card.

Despite a man down, a third goal would arise in the 35th minute when Diego Diaz got his second of the night from the penalty spot after Ryan Casciaro’s foul.

Mons made it 4-0 on the hour mark when Nathan Santos’ cross found Ayoub El Hmidi who outmuscled Carl Thomas in the box and slotted the ball past Ayden Vinales.

Naoufal El Andaloussi completed the rout five minutes from time tapping in a rebound to make it four games unbeaten in all competitions since their defeat to Lincoln last November.

Lineups

Mons Calpe – Fraiz, Dos Santos, E.Santos, Rodriguez, El Hmidi, Nusoni (N.El Andaloussi 30), Caballero (Bernardes 79), N.Santos (M.El Andaloussi 79), Ojeda, Ballester, Diaz (Mallemaci 69)

Unused subs: Montano, Moreno, De Los Santos

Manchester 62 – Vinales; Sardena (Thomas 50), Pereira (Garcia 50), Negrette (Moir 50), Ballantine, Sanchez, De Los Santos, Guiling, Edzes, Casciaro, Clenahan

Unused subs: Borge, Montovio, McElwee, McCarthy

Yellow cards: E.Santos; Edzes

Red cards: E.Santos

Guiling returns to football with Manchester 62

Posted on February 14, 2021 by FootballGib

Former Gibraltar international Robert Guiling has made a return to the local game after being announced as a new signing by Manchester 62 today.

Photo (C) C Correa Photography

Guiling, who last played for Lynx and was part of Lincoln’s all-conquering side until 2014, was a mainstay of the Gibraltar team before UEFA admittance and picked up 13 caps after UEFA admittance, including being part of the team who drew 0-0 with Slovakia in Gibraltar’s first ever international.

The 40-year-old midfielder, whose last appearance in the league was against his new employers back in 2017, has come out of retirement to join up with former national manager Davie Wilson, as well as former international teammates Robert Montovio and Ryan Casciaro to add more experience to a Manchester side who have been very active in the transfer window.

With the league rumoured to be starting up on February 22nd, it is unclear if Guiling will feature straight away for Manchester, but his signing will no doubt be welcomed in the dressing room as Wilson’s side prepare for life in the Challenge Group after the international break.

Manchester also confirmed the signing of their former youth player, Liam Asquez, who was most recently part of St Joseph’s U23 side.

Casciaro among new signings at Manchester 62

Posted on February 4, 2021 by FootballGib

Ryan Casciaro was announced today as one of seven new signings in the past 24 hours by Manchester 62 ahead of the eventual resumption of the season.

Photo (C) William Gracia

Casciaro, who joins from St Joseph’s having made a single appearance for them this season, and speaking to the official club website, the 36-year-old said: “The club have a project which is to use as many local, youth players as possible and that’s something I’ve asked from every club I have been with. These players are the future and we have to take care of them.

It’s one of the main reasons I agreed to sign. The future lies with youth and we have to provide a stable platform for them to be able to improve and develop as players.”

Joining Casciaro at Manchester are a number of local faces, including Patrick McElwee, Karl Poggio, Liam Thorne and Tito De Torres, boosting their notable local contingent which has seen them give 19 HGP’s a total of 5,438 minutes of action – three more HGPs and 935 more minutes than their nearest challengers in this department.

Alongside the earlier announced signing of Cavan Burns, back on January 1st, who signed after the departure of Boca from the league, Davie Wilson’s side have also confirmed the arrivals of David Moir and Ryan Sean McCarthy. McCarthy is a 25-year-old who last played in Sweden for Sundbybergs IK, can play in defence and midfield, and worked with Wilson during his time at Bruno’s Magpies, while Moir is a left midfielder, who according to Manchester has played in Germany and in Scotland in the lower leagues.

When the league eventually does get the green light to resume, Manchester, who are all but confirmed to finish in the bottom half come the split, have one remaining fixture against Mons Calpe before they take part in the Challenge Group, as well as the upcoming Rock Cup.

In other transfer news, College 1975, a rival to Manchester in the Challenge Group, announced the loan signing of Adam Gracia from Europa, as well as the signings of former Boca duo Guillermo Perez and Mattia Ramundo, and Etien Victory from Bruno’s Magpies.

Sardeña: “We will continue to learn and improve”

Posted on February 1, 2021 by FootballGib

FG caught up with Peter Sardeña to talk about Manchester 62’s season so far, playing alongside his brother Charles and more.

Manchester 62 currently sit ninth in the table after nine games, Peter reflected on their season so far – “We have had a challenging first half of the season with some difficult results. Covid has not helped either. It’s difficult to get into the rhythm of weekly football and maintaining a game-type fitness with many interruptions. Regardless, the gaffer strictly advises and motivates personal fitness and together (virtually) we will continue to learn and improve.”

37-year old Charles Sardeña signed for Man62 last summer and would link up with his brother. We asked Peter how it feels to be playing alongside his sibling, “He and my father are the first to take me to my games during junior football (under 7s), my first touch is quite terrible but I blame his poor teaching skills. We’ve grown up together and considering the age gap, he’s always brought me to his ‘kickabouts’ be it with local teams, Hargreaves or an English power-league session with lads double my age.”

he added, “Charles has been missing from the local football scene for over 6 years It’s hard to put into words the feeling we had while we held onto each other back in our 3-1 win against Europa Point. Charles scored a halfway run-up towards the goal, 1v1 against the keeper. We just ran straight to each other and embraced it like…” he’s back!” The feeling of being able to train/play alongside him is something many won’t understand, but proud to share this moment with him is the least I can say.”

We asked Peter what type of example does Manchester 62 show for young players? He replied, “I strongly believe Man62 is a leading example of how local young players can perform and participate in a league that sometimes feels monopolized by other clubs. Our latest result justifies this with only a 2-0 defeat against huge local investors Lincoln. We lead with most game-time given to young and local players.“

Lastly, we asked Peter what he hopes to achieve this season – “As a team, we want to give every opponent a solid game and acquire as many points as possible. We know we have enough local talent to do so. On an individual note, keep learning and enjoy every second of it.”

Gallardo scores four in Europa rout

Posted on December 13, 2020 by FootballGib

Europa maintained their unbeaten start to the league with a dominant 9-0 win over Manchester 62.

Mikey Yome and Alex Quillo were recalled to the starting lineup for Europa while Manchester 62 was without stalwart defender Matt Clenahan but were boosted by Tom Farmer’s return from suspension.

Alex Quillo gave Europa the lead from close range which shortly became 2-0 when Juanlu was fortunate to get onto a rebound. Dylan Borge got his seventh of the season and Europa’s third after 31 minutes.

Juanlu notched in his second of the game nine minutes later and Europa had a commanding 4-0 lead at half-time.

Europa brought on Adrian Gallardo at half-time and the Spanish striker scored a quick-fire brace to give his side a 6-0 lead. Adrian Gallardo got his third and Europa’s seventh after 71 minutes.

Escobar would bring on 18-year old Evan De Haro and 16-year old Julian Britto for their senior debuts with the former assisting Juampe to make it 8-0 and the latter’s cross met by the head of Adrian Gallardo for 9-0 to Europa.

HGP’s will take the spotlight tonight with 19 Gibraltarians taking part in the game, Manchester 62 started with seven while Europa started with six and finished with seven.

Lineups

Manchester 62 – El Abd; Ballester (Mifsud 45), Sardena, Pereira, S.De Los Santos (Zammitt 67), Montovio, Ballantine, Negrette, Edzes, Farmer, Garcia

Unused subs: Borge, Langtry, D.De Los Santos

Europa – Lopez (Cabezutto 79), Jolley, Alvarez, Juampe, Quillo (Britto 79), Walker, Yome (Moreno 46), Olivero, Carrascal (De Haro 65), Borge (Gallardo 46), Juanlu

Unused subs: Bautista, Polaco

Yellow cards: Farmer

Red cards: None