The 8th Match Day of the National Amateur League II brought some surprise results. St George’s inflicted their first defeat on Victoria Hotspurs bringing the Gozitan side’s 26 winning match streak to an end.
Ta’ Xbiex FC 0-3 Kalkara United
Timmy Thomas was the protagonist in the weekend’s first match in the IZIBET Amateur League II, bringing victory home to Kalkara United against Ta’ Xbiex FC.
Right from kick-off, Kalkara went into the lead courtesy of Thomas, who shot early and caught goalkeeper Matthew Schembri off guard.
Ta’ Xbiex came very close to equalising in the 22nd minute, after an attempt by Mark Bonello Ghio was cleared off the line.
In the 53rd minute, a long shot by Anderjay Grech was aimed at the top corner, but was caught well by Schembri. Two minutes later, Jean Claude Annati was on hand to get his name on the scoresheet, as his shot from close range beat Schembri, doubling Kalkara’s advantage.
Ta’ Xbiex responded to the setback in the 58th minute from a shot by Joseph Schembri, but it was off target.
Thomas got another goal to seal the win in the 70th minute after a long ball passed over the Ta’ Xbiex defence, with Thomas’s first-time shot beating the Ta’ Xbiex goalkeeper.
The match ended after three minutes of stoppage time, with the Greens coming away with all three points.
St George’s FC 2-0 Victoria Hotspurs FC
St George’s FC produced the result of the week, ending Victoria Hotspurs FC’s perfect record and 26-game run to an end after beating them 2-0 in a pulsating encounter at the Centenary Stadium on Friday.
Prior to the match, Victoria Hotspurs were looking for another win to add to their 100% record in the division, having completely dominated the division so far. On their part, St George’s, under the guidance of coach Edmond Lufi were looking to gain something out of this encounter although it seemed a tall order.
As expected, the Hotspurs started on the front foot and could have gone ahead on 13 minutes when a shot by Kurt Borg ended up hitting the side netting. Victoria again came close to taking the lead on 35 minutes when a header by Dejan Bogdanovic from a corner ended up being cleared off the line by a St George’s defender.
St George’s had their first chance of the match on 39 minutes when Julian Iwueke was in the clear from a counter, but his shot was easily saved by Adrian Parnis.
Victoria fluffed another great chance at the start of the second half when Christian Grima shot well over the bar on 50 minutes.
However, St George’s were the ones who took the lead on 62 minutes. A brilliant individual move by Iwueke saw him break the offside trap, leaving the strike free to round goalkeeper Parnis before finishing the ball into the net.
The scoreline was quickly doubled in the 76th minute after another classic counterattack, with Owen Galea cooly depositing the ball into the net to the jubilation of the Cospicua supporters. Following the goal, St George’s controlled the rest of the match easily, with the Hotspurs’ impressive run coming to a close.
Ghaxaq FC 4-0 Santa Venera Lightnings FC
On Friday afternoon, Ghaxaq FC secured a vital win allowing them to breathe some fresh air, beating bottom side Santa Venera Lightnings FC 4-0 at the Centenary Stadium.
Conrad Debattista’s team emerged as winners after a run of recent disappointing results, while the Lightnings remain without any points so far this season.
Ghaxaq created the best goalscoring opportunities in the first half-hour, with veteran Aaron Agius and defender Johann Vassallo having efforts sail just wide. During the remaining time in the first half, Santa Venera easily controlled Ghaxaq’s attempts.
Following the break, the Greens brought their attack up a gear, as they looked to try to break the deadlock. They were successful in the 63rd minute as Jurgen Gerada tapped in a header after a well-timed cross from Neil Brownrigg.
Agius increased the scoring 10 minutes later from a low shot into the right corner after a well-orchestrated collective counterattack. Substitute Yousef Amhamed and Joao Otavio De Jesus Ganzert both scored in the dying minutes to seal the win with a couple of shots from outside of the penalty area, finishing the game in great style for the Greens.
Mqabba FC 2-0 Mdina Knights FC
Mqabba FC continued to edge towards the top of the table after securing a great win against Mdina Knights FC at the Sirens Stadium on Saturday.
The match was kicked off by Mdina, and there was immediate action. After just a minute of play, Mdina were awarded a penalty after a long ball was sent up from the back, but the Mdina attacked was taken out in the penalty area. Mdina’s Jean Scholey stepped up to take the spot-kick, but he sent it softly down goalkeeper Mario Bartolo’s left side, who guessed the right way and denied Mdina an early lead.
Mqabba then started to push forward with Andres Tenorio Viveros finding space on both wings, before firing two shots in the 11th and 23rd minutes that went just narrowly wide.
The first goal came in the 41st minute as a shot from the right was saved by Mdina goalkeeper Roderick Camilleri, yet it fell to the feet of Mqabba’s Ishmael Galea, who proceeded to slot the ball into the back of the net.
Early in the second half, Mqabba had a good opportunity to make it 2-0, after Kurt Vella took a long shot to try and catch the goalkeeper off his line, but Camilleri managed to get his fingers to it and tip it over the bar. However, Galea did find his and Mqabba’s second of the match in the 58th minute after a ball was played down the line to Saturday Nanapere, who kept the ball in play before crossing it to the onrushing Galea, who finished off the chance.
Mqabba had a chance for a third goal in the dying embers of the match after a good counterattack saw Julian Farrugia run free into the penalty area, yet his shot went way over the bar, leaving the score at the end of the match 2-0.
Dingli Swallows FC 2-1 Siggiewi FC
Dingli Swallows FC were looking to capitalise on Victoria Hotspurs’ recent slip-up to cut the gap at the top of the IZIBET Amateur League II table. Siggiewi FC were also looking for points after their disappointing foray last week although they were some way detached from the top spots.
And Siggiewi were the ones to take a surprise lead in the 14th minute when Andre’ Farrugia fired a beautiful shot from outside of the penalty area that went in off the post, giving goalkeeper Adam Benjelloun no chance.
Jake Milwyn Davies should have doubled for the South Westerners on 22 minutes but inexplicably shot wide from two yards.
Siggiewi continued creating chances and missed another glorious opportunity on 38 minutes when Benjelloun produced a stunning reflex save to deny Farrugia a second goal.
The second half began with Dingli on the front foot, attempting to get back on level terms. The equaliser finally arrived on 68 minutes when a fine cross from Ronaldinho Nathaniel Daley found veteran Jason Camilleri who made no mistake in beating Leon Seisun with a low shot.
Dingli had a glorious opportunity to go ahead on 76 minutes when Jason Camilleri was presented with an open goal, but his shot hit the side netting. The Swallows finally took the lead four minutes later after some fine work by Daley, who crossed to 16-year-old Nathan Sciberras, with the latter making no mistake, slotting into the net with ease.
With this win, Dingli’s third on the trot, the Swallows are now just three points behind league leaders Victoria Hotspurs.
