Gudja United found the going hard as they suffered two goals in the first half against Lija Athletic.

Lija were better in the first half and scored the goals that mattered as Gudja took some time to find their feet.

Gudja were however unlucky on 38 minutes when they hit the post, and they dominated in the second half during which they were surely the better team.

However Gudja will have to improve a lot as on yesterday’s showing they will be in for a difficult season.

Lija took the upperhand from the start with Gudja unable to make any headway upfront. Lija’s trio, Beu, Ige and De Almeida combined well but they were not menacing in front of Matthew Xerxen.

Beu’s attempt on ten minutes was blocked by Xerxen and De Almeida had a good run but his shot went slightly off target. On 18 minutes Lija took the lead when Andre Scicluna passed towards Abdullahi Ige who darted inside the area to beat Xerxen from an acute angle.

Gudja continued to find the going hard but on 28 minutes they were very unlucky when Abela passed towards the unmarked Ryan Sell whose shot hit the base of the upright.

Ten minutes later Erjon Beu was floored inside the area by Ranier Farrugia and from the resultant penalty the same Beu made no mistake with a low drive. In the last minute Gudja came close to pulling one back when George Chircop shot slightly wide from an ideal position.

On the resumption Gudja United came close with an Aleksandrov freekick and on the other end Ige created havoc in the Gudja defence but his shot missed the target. On 55 minutes Gudja again on the attack with a fierce Alksandrov shot well blocked by Bonnici, and on the hour Peter Paul Sammut missed the target by a whisker.

Gudju continued to press forward and on 67 minutes Aleksandrov brought the best out of Bonnici who managed to save his first timer. From the resultant corner Tonna’s shot sailed over the bar.

In stoppage time Gudja were reduced to ten men when Ranier Farrugia was sent off, but they still pulled one back through Ryan Sell.