A brace by Bledi Alla paved the way for Attard as they defeated Rabat Ajax 3-0 on Saturday at the Luxol Stadium to make it three wins in a row in the National Amateur League 1. The team of Ivan Zammit have therefore the most perfect start while Attard goalkeeper Zach Valletta still has to be beaten in the league this season. Rabat Ajax, on the other hand, remain anchored at the bottom of the table without any points after three matches.
Attard had a perfect start, taking the lead on 12 minutes courtesy of Alla whose low shot from the edge of the area beat goalkeeper Jean Matthias Vella. Three minutes later, Yanis Tonna entered the area from the left and served Alla who hit home from close range. Zammit’s side were completely in control and on 24 minutes, Nicholas Schembri had an angled shot from the right deflected into a corner, while two minutes later, Kieran Xuereb went close with a rising shot which ended over the bar. Rabat replied with a Sean Abela cross shot from the left which was parried by Valletta on 33 minutes and four minutes from the end of the first half, Jake Cordina concluded a good move with a shot from outside the area ending wide.
In the second half, Attard remained in control and on 49 minutes, Schembri headed the ball over the bar off a Tonna corner. On 61 minutes, Glending Farrugia headed wide off a cross by Tonna and six minutes later, a rising shot by substitute Justin Cassar was parried by Vella. Tonna hit the crossbar with a freekick on the 90th but four minutes in added time, substitute Sheldon Seychell scored a third goal when he entered the area and beat the Rabat custodian with a diagonal shot from the left.
Birzebbuga St Peter’s 0-0 Vittoriosa Stars
On Sunday morning, the top of the table clash at the Sirens Stadium ended in a goalless draw. It was a good match however, between two top teams in this division who will certainly challenge each other for the promotion spot. Unfortunately, the crowd numbers somewhat disappointed despite the excellent conditions.
Both teams had two goal attempts in the over-all balanced opening 20 minutes through Gordon Saliba (Stars) and a wonderful over-head kick by Blues midfielder Keith Muscat. On 26 minutes, from a Leejoe Schembri free-kick, Stars goalkeeper Edward Gatt saved a close-range opportunity of Chris Baker in two attempts.
Vittoriosa clearly had the upper-hand in the first period of the second half, creating a few good goalscoring opportunities in the opening 15 minutes. On 64 minutes on the other side, Saldanha came inches close to head the Blues in front but the lanky Brazilian miscued his attempt at the second post. But the best chances were most definitely for Vittoriosa when Saliba’s free-kick was blocked by Azzopardi and a bit later with half-time substitute Larens Vella missing an immense opportunity, partly miskicking the ball from close-range with the Birzebbuga goalkeeper out of position. On 76 minutes, Schembri ran towards goal in a fast counter-attack, beating two players on his way but the winger failed to connect with the unmarked Baker who could have scored the winner in this tight encounter. On 82 minutes, Schembri’s first-timer was tipped into a corner by Gatt in what was another excellent opportunity to open the scoring. Not much later, the Cottonera side were unlucky as Vella kicked his 20-meters distance scorcher against the upright with Azzopardi beaten.
Xghajra Tornados 2-1 Pembroke Athleta
Keith Darmanin’s Xghajra Tornados joined Birzebbuga and Vittoriosa on the seven-points mark in the ranking, keeping their unbeaten run in all competitions going in an entertaining 2-1 victory over Pembroke. All goals were scored during the first 45 minutes.
Xghajra took an early lead on nine minutes with a great goal, when Michael Scicluna found Raylon Paisley on the right wing, who threatened to shoot multiple times, skipping past three players in the process and finishing off his great move with a top corner strike. On 18 minutes, Scicluna was sent through into the right side of the box by Miguel Galea, with Scicluna shooting low on the turn but concluded wide. In the 25th minute, after some confusion in the Pembroke box, Redheil Stivala volleyed the ball off the post into the back of the net to double Xghajra’s lead.
In the 33rd minute, Jacob Carabott found Thomas Grima on the left side, whose shot from just outside the area sailed inches over the crossbar. Two minutes later, Jeffrey Mifsud’s side received a severe setback when playmaker Weverton Gomes had to be substituted with an injury. However, Pembroke reduced the deficit on 39 minutes when Carabott headed a Jayden Fenech corner home at the second post. Paisley could have added a third for Xghajra minutes later but former Rabat Ajax custodian Dean Sciberras saved.
Both sides had their chances after the change of ends. Pembroke threatened first through a Kyle Sciberras-Balbi header minutes after the re-start, an attempt blocked well by Tornados goalie Lark Falzon. Xghajra’s Richmond Hanson wasted three chances between the 52nd and 56th minute, hitting the woodwork in the last one. Just before the hour, Fenech had another fine chance for Pembroke with an intelligent long-range curling shot, but again Falzon saved. Deep into stoppage time, Paisley’s free-kick for Xghajra just missed target.
Luqa St Andrew’s 4-1 Zejtun Corinthians
On Sunday at the Centenary Stadium, Luqa recorded their second victory of the season, easily disposing Zejtun with a slick display. There was no doubt who was the best team on the night as the performance of the Corinthians was disappointing. On the positive side however, the Blues managed to lure back Adrian Carabott out of retirement, scoring the only Zejtun goal.
The Saints hit the net after just three minutes when Dasser Sammut tapped in at the first post after Mario Jude Dominicius did all the hard work on the wing. Ghanese striker Sherif Mohammed should have doubled on 23 minutes but the summer signing failed to beat Anson Saliba in a one-on-one situation. But on the half hour mark, Fred Kessie headed home the second Luqa goal after a precise Nathan Frendo cross. The same Frendo incredibly missed target four minutes later from a Dominicius through-pass in what should have been Luqa’s third. Instead, against the run of play and in practically their first goal attempt, Carabott threw his side a lifeline on 37 minutes with a fine shot in the far corner.
Zejtun’s hopes further increased just before the hour mark when Luqa centre-back Edward Bugeja, in his 213th second tier game, halted Mohamed Kara on his way towards the goal with the referee in charge giving Bugeja his marching orders with a direct red card. However, the Corinthians failed to take advantage of this numerical superiority as it was Dominicius who scored Luqa’s third on 66 minutes while four minutes from regular time, Sherif Mohammed added goal number four to finish off a dominant display by Luqa.
Qormi 4-2 Msida St Joseph
Like Luqa, also neighbours Qormi bagged their second consecutive victory by beating Msida St Joseph in an entertaining and somewhat controversial match on Saturday afternoon at the Sirens Stadium. Qormi, once more, disappointed with their display but, quite incredibly scored four goals in the second half to overturn Msida’s 2-0 lead, the first two from the penalty spot.
At the start of the encounter, Qormi dictated play but the Saints took over the initiative during the 1st period. On 24 minutes, Msida’s Andrew Spiteri should have opened the score when from a goalmouth melee, the ball fell into his feet in the six-yard box with only Lydon Moore to beat but the Qormi goalkeeper blocked in extremis. Two minutes later, a slightly deflected long-distance attempt by South African Jordan Sampson nearly surprised Nathan Mangion, with the ball hitting crossbar and post before the Msida goalkeeper took control of the ball. The Saints took the lead on 28 minutes when Desire Koiba was sent through, calmly defeating Moore in a one-on-one situation. Alejandro Brincat should have doubled on 41 minutes with Moore far out of position, but the intelligent lob of the former Mtarfa winger just missed target.
Plenty to report in the second half. On 53 minutes, Cadu came close with an off-target header from a free-kick, but two minutes later, Msida doubled and what a goal it was. Mustapha Malool conquered the ball in his own half and slalomed his way through the Qormi defence on the right wing, finishing off with an accurate grounder. Then, in the space of just three minutes, Qormi were awarded two penalties. The first one was awarded for a handsball with Cadu converting, while the second one was highly debatable, with Mangion clearly playing the ball correctly in the six-yard but Cadu went down and the referee, after some hesitation and to the surprise of many, awarded another spotkick. This time, Jayden Borg converted to equalise for the Yellow-Blacks.
Anyhow, Qormi were back on level terms which gave the team moral to seek for the winner and on 76 minutes, Steve Schembri tapped in the 3-2 for Qormi from a goalmouth melee. On 83 minutes, Jayden Borg should have added a fourth for Qormi when the youngsters was sent through by Cadu, but blasted his attempt high. Not much later on the other side, Malool missed a sitter with Moore blocking his close-range attempt into a corner. Msida went all out for an equaliser and, with their defence wide open, Qormi countered his way to a fourth goal with Borg, receiving the ball from Jamie-Lee Micallef, beating Mangion from close-range to seal Qormi’s disputable victory.
Mellieha 1-2 Kirkop United
Matthew Caruana’s Kirkop returned to winning ways on Friday night after their defeat against Xghajra, beating Mellieha by the odd goal in three in a tight encounter in which a draw would have been a fairer result.
Kirkop took the lead in the fourth minute when captain Romeu Romao headed home from close range. Mellieha had a golden opportunity five minutes later when they won a penalty but from the spot, Sebastian Perdomo’s effort smashed against the crossbar. But Mellieha drew level on 14 minutes when a header by newcomer Marc Bolane Adonis was deflected home by captain Jacob Farrugia. Mellieha had a slight edge over their opponents with Adonis, a striker from Ivory Coast, irresistible at times. Just before the break Kirkop had a good opportunity to retake the lead but Giovanni Galea’s lob that beat the Mellieha custodian was cleared by Christian Grech before the ball could cross beyond the goal line.
Five minutes into the second half, Kirkop were back in front with a perfectly executed move and finished off in style by Galea. Mellieha staged a good reaction with shots from Udafe Uzeh and Perdomo well saved by the talented Clayton Rapa. Mellieha continued to attack but Kirkop were menacing with their breaks. In the dying moments Mellieha’s efforts produced a couple of scoring chances but Kirkop managed to hold on to their slender but precious lead.
Marsaskala 3-3 Qrendi
Also on Friday night, Marsaskala and Qrendi produced an action filled 90 minutes, sharing six goals in the process to gain a more than deserved point each. For Marsaskala this was the first point of the season after suffering two defeats in the opening two encounters.
The match had a promising start with Nigerian speedster James Oghenekewaro testing Christian Cassar with a fierce drive and at the other end, Qrendi’s Leo Salgado had a spectacular overhead-kick but the ball went slightly over the bar. On 14 minutes, Brandon Bray tested Clyde Aquilina for Qrendi from a tight angle and sixty seconds later at the other end, Fabrizio Zammit’s dipper was well parried by Cassar.
On the half hour Aquilina made a great save to deny the fast Gianfranco Micallef, but from the resultant corner Qrendi took the lead when Leo Salgado headed home from close range. Marsaskala could have obtained an equaliser five minutes later but Cain Cutajar failed to hit home from close with an open goal at his mercy. However, on 39 minutes, the team of coach Brian Vella drew level when Leon Theuma fired in the top corner from the heart of the penalty area. Just before the end of the first half Marsaskala took the lead when Christopher Galea crossed from the right towards Oghenekewaro who rocketed the ball home.
Seven minutes into the second half Brandon Bray rounded the goalkeeper and scored with a low drive to make it 2-2. The game was now even more spectacular with both sides having several scoring opportunities. On 79 minutes, Qrendi regained the lead when Leo Salgado flicked home from close range a low cross by substitute Braydon Farrugia. But two minutes later both sides were level again when Oghenekewaro was floored inside the area and from the resultant penalty the Nigerian made no mistake.
San Gwann 0-0 Gharghur
Neighbours San Gwann and Gharghur played out an inconclusive goalless draw at the Sirens Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with most of the action being recorded in the first half. The match never reached any heights with the neutral spectators leaving the ground disappointed.
Gharghur had a slight upper-hand in the initial period of the match. On eight minutes, Mihaly Gidaly blasted his attempt against the cross-bar from close-range. On 34 minutes, Mark Cutajar aimed his attempt from a swift Gharghur counter-attack against the post with Jayden Aquilina quite amazingly missing from close-range with San Gwann goalkeeper Luciano Camilleri saving.
After the change of ends, San Gwann saw more of the ball but without troubling James Abela, the Gharghur custodian much. Goalmouth action was scarce with eventually both sets walking off the field of play with a point each. While the Saints have now collected four points, Kevin Borg-Degiorgio’s side still wait for their first victory of the season.
