12 September 2006, by Marco Pereira

Ronny brace boosts Pacos

Pacos de Ferreira 2-1 Maritimo

Pacos de Ferreira striker Ronny grabbed a brace as Pacos earned their first victory of the season 2-1 against Maritimo.

The islanders succumbed to their first defeat after taking all the honours in last week’s derby match against Nacional.

The game started brightly as both teams exchanged opportunities in the first 25 minutes, but the deadlock was broken on the half-hour mark as Pacos striker, Ronny, got his first of the night. Pacos forward Didi ran down the left side where his pass found Ronny in front of the box. Ronny cleverly tricked Milton and fired the ball into the net past goalkeeper Marcos.

The second half ended with Pacos on top, but the home side could consider themselves lucky as Maritimo wasted some good opportunities not to be on the scoreboard themselves.

Maritimo shook things up to start the second half by replacing Jardel and Ze Gomes for Lipatin and Briguel, respectively. The changes did not prove to be much help as Pacos twice came close to doubling their lead from a Ronny header and a Pedrinha rocket shot that forced Marcos into a great save.

Goalkeeper clanger

Pacos were knocking on the door for their second goal and they got it in the 62nd minute from a Marcos blunder. The Maritimo keeper ran out of his box to retrieve the ball and had ample time to get rid of it, but Ronny charged Marcos, managed to get the ball off the keeper and send it into the empty goal from the tightest of angles.

Maritimo roared back in order to save themselves from embarrassment and a left-foot Briguel shot reduced the arrears, and Collins Mbesuma then almost equalised as his left-foot shot hit the post in the 76th minute.

But Pacos answered with great chances of their own. Cristiano missed a sitter in the 78th minute when Antunes fed him the ball in front of goal and the same player shot just wide minutes later.

There was more drama in the final minute as Lipatin looked to have Pacos keeper, Pecanha, at his mercy with an open net and give Maritimo a point, only for him to incredibly hit the ball straight at the goalkeeper.

Pacos de Ferreira coach Jose Mota felt his team deserved the win and had special praise for his striker, Ronny: “At Pacos de Ferreira, no one gives up. We are always humble and never think that we are automatic winners. We gave everything we had to win every ball and Ronny exemplified this philosophy.”

“It was extremely important to win at home and extremely difficult as Maritimo were highly motivated following their win against Nacional. They moved the ball well and worked the flanks well also, which allowed them to create good opportunities.”

Maritimo coach, Ulisses Morais, was reflective after the loss, but stood by his players after the game: “It hurts us to lose like this. The errors cost us. We lost this game, but will win many others if we show the same attitude, commitment, persistence and the willingness to fight for a better result until the very end. We unequivocally showed a spirit to obtain all three points.”

Next week Pacos have a tricky test as they go to Alvalade to face Sporting while Maritimo will play host to Desportivo das Aves.

Pacos de Ferreira:
Pecanha, Manqualde, Geraldo, Luiz Carlos, Fredy, Paulo Sousa, Dani, Pedrinha (Antunes, 71), Didi, Ronny (Joao Paulo, 90), Cristiano (Jean Carlos, 86)
Yellow Cards: Luiz Carlos (36), Manqualde (60), Dani (86)

Maritimo:
Marcos, Ze Gomes (Briguel, 46), Gregory, Milton do O, Evaldo, Fahel, Jardel (Lipatin, 46), Andre Barreto, Moukouri, Kanu (Mbesuma, 70), Marcinho
Yellow Cards: Ze Gomes (42), Fahel (53), Gregory (58), Moukouri (60)

Goals:
[1-0] Ronny, 30
[2-0] Ronny, 62
[2-1] Briguel, 65