The Amateur League II Match Day 2 had a number of interesting matches and some surprising results.
Mqabba 5-3 Ghaxaq
Plenty of goals in the early Mosta Ground kick off on Saturday, which confirmed the fire-power up front for Mqabba but also showed their weaknesses in defence.
Before kick-off there was a presentation towards 37-year-old Ghaxaq captain Emmanuel Cutajar, who played his 300th official senior career match.
Mqabba took the lead on 11 minutes through veteran goal-getter Timmy Thomas, officially opening his account this season after an excellent Dylan Zarb pass. Andres Viveros doubled on 26 minutes but just after the half hour mark, Ghaxaq pulled one back through Aaron Agius, who blasted home from close-range. On the stroke of half-time, Ishmael Galea missed a sitter for Mqabba with Ghaxaq goalkeeper Luke Attard beaten.
Not long after the re-start, Ian Calleja could have equalised for Ghaxaq, missing target from an ideal angle. With Ghaxaq clearly pressing for an equaliser, the team of coach Conrad Debattista were caught on the wrong foot in a swift Mqabba counter-attack on 62 minutes, with eventually Viveros intelligently finishing off from close-range. Eight minutes later, Ghaxaq fully profited from some weak Mqabba defending with substitute Jurgen Gerada being the most alert, reducing the deficit to one once again. But on 79 minutes, Saturday Nanapere rounded off a brilliant Nikolai Farrugia-Cross pass to make it 4-2 in favour of Mqabba. Not much later it was 5-2 thanks to Andre-Joe Cutajar’s long distance grounder while on 88 minutes, Ghaxaq were awarded a penalty with Jurgen Gerada placing the ball neatly past Bartolo.
Kalkara United 0-2 Victoria Hotspurs
On Saturday at the Sirens Stadium, Victoria Hotspurs obtained their second win on the trot against an organised Kalkara side, who managed to keep the score down by just two goals.
The Gozitans did not take too long to open the scoring and went ahead after six minutes with Dejan Bogdanovic connecting easily from an Emmanuel Mbong cross. On 20 minutes, the Hotspurs doubled with Emmanuel Mbong afforded an easy tap in from close range. The side of coach Oliver Spiteri had another fine chance on 26 minutes when Wellington sprung the offside trap but his effort ended up just wide. Mbong had another shot that ended just wide on 43 minutes as Victoria continued dominating the match.
The second half was a rather staid affair with Victoria sitting back and protecting their comfortable lead and Kalkara rarely threatening up front. In the end it was victory at a canter for Victoria Hotspurs who are looking almost dead certs to promotion to the Amateur League 1 next season.
Santa Venera Lightnings 0-4 Mdina Knights
On Friday night, Mdina ended their 39-match competitive winless sequence with a much deserved win over a disappointing Sta Venera Lightnings team, who were only a shadow of the team who did so well a week ago against Victoria Hotspurs.
Mdina took an early lead through veteran Kane Micallef on six minutes and barely a minute later, Jean Scholey had a free entrance towards goal in the heart of the Sta Venera defence but Yandrick Cassar did well to block. On 26 minutes there was a near similar situation and once more Cassar came out on top.
On 39 minutes, a Marc Farrugia 20-meters distance attempt ended up on the top of the crossbar. But two minutes before the break, Micallef added his second of the match with an angled shot from close range which gave Cassar no chance. The Knights scored a third in stoppage time with Claydie Micallef rounded off an individual action in the Sta Venera box.
It was match over when Scholey added goal number four just four minutes after the break, beating Cassar in two attempts. Just after the hour, Micallef could have added a fifth but the former Melita player failed to conclude.
Dingli Swallows 2-0 Ta’ Xbiex
Also on Friday night, two second half goals were enough for Dingli to bag a most welcome three points, meaning the Swallows are still unbeaten this season.
Dingli saw more of the ball in the first 30 minutes with Neil Said and Ronaldinho Daley coming close to break the deadlock. Ta’ Xbiex almost took a shock lead however as just after the half hour, Johan Grech hit the post after a wonderful individual action on the right flank.
Three minutes after the re-start, Said missed a sitter for Dingli with only Ta’ Xbiex goalkeeper Schembri to beat after some good work by Daley. On 56 minutes, Dingli finally found the net thanks to a splendid Jake Bugeja header from a corner action, his first goal in senior football. The Swallows kept on showing the better ideas but initially failed to double despite chances by substitutes Nicholas Zammit and Aaron Ciantar. But on 82 minutes, Dingli scored the second goal with Zammit tapping in some good work from Daley. The lively Jamaican could have added one more deep into stoppage time but missed target from an ideal angle.
Siggiewi 2-0 St George’s
The once mighty Blues from Cospicua suffered their second consecutive loss on Saturday night at the Mosta Ground, with this time Siggiewi being the better team. A disappointing start for the Pioneers, who had their goalkeeper sent-off and missed a penalty.
Siggiewi took an early lead through Clayton Borg, heading home a free-kick from close-range. On 24 minutes, Isaac Dankwah-Asanyi was released on the left side of the box but his attempt sailed wide. Towards the end of the half, the Cottonera side came more into the picture and threatened Leon Seisun a few times, with perhaps the attempt of Julien Iwueke on 39 minutes as best opportunity but his shot sailed inches over the crossbar.
On 63 minutes, St George’s were reduced to ten when goalkeeper Jake Schiavone, who played another excellent game, tormented into Siggiewi winger Andre Farrugia on the edge of the penalty box. Lincoln Micallef blasted the resultant free-kick off-target. With 15 minutes regular time left, the Blues were awarded a penalty but Seisun did well to parade Dhonatan’s spotkick. In the 80th minute, Jacob Magri doubled for Siggiewi with a free-kick from just outside the area, with Bormla captain Matthew Gauci deflecting the ball which left substitute goalkeeper Clive Caruana anchored. Deep into stoppage time, Siggiewi could have added a third when substitute Miguel Busuttil skimmed the crossbar with a long-range attempt.
