Amateur League 1 Promotion Pool
Vittoriosa Stars 3-3 San Gwann
The Promotion Pool commenced last Friday night at the Centenary Stadium with a top clash between leaders San Gwann and Vittoriosa Stars, the number two in the standings. Both teams played out an entertaining six-goal thriller with, remarkably, four penalties being given and converted. The match brought an end to a 12-match winning streak of San Gwann, but the team of coach Xavier Saliba still lead the table with 39 points, two ahead of the Stars.
Vittoriosa were on fire straight from the start with Saints goalkeeper Luciano Camilleri blocking an on-target Aidan Agius Gilford attempt. On 28 minutes, San Gwann were awarded a penalty when Gonzalo Virano’s free-kick ended up against the wall with Birgu team captain Aaron Sammut handling the ball. Virano stepped up himself, cooly slotting home from 11-meters.
The Saints doubled five minutes later with Ricardo Velasquez releasing Virano, who beat the off-side trap, serving Denilson Borg who kicked home despite Gatt’s desperate attempts to block. Barely a minute later on the other side, Camilleri brought the house down with a splendid save on Paul Aderibigbe’s thunderbolt, destined for top corner. On 38 minutes, Camilleri brought down Aderibigbe in the box with the referee once more pointing at the spot, with veteran striker Joseph Ogunnupe blasting home in style.
The Cottonera side were looking for a quick equaliser after the break with Ogunnupe coming close with an angled shot from the edge of the area on 48 minutes. In the attack that followed, Virano’s 20-meters distance scorcher was deflected by a Vittoriosa defender but still Gatt managed to parade the strike of the Argentinian. Moments later, the unmarked Matteo Vella came inches close to knock in a Denilson cross from the left. On 69 minutes, Vittoriosa equalised through Sammut, who rounded off an inch perfect Aderibigbe cross from the right from close-range. On 73 minutes, Jeremy Busuttil rose high at the first post from a corner action but the Stars defender saw his attempt ending wide.
In the 80th minute, Velasquez mis-timed his header from an Adam Falzon cross, a glorious chance to put the Saints in the driving seat. But four minutes later, the same Falzon was brought down in the box by Gianluca Sultana, with the referee pointing at the spot for the third time. Virano stepped up again and elegantly beat Gatt to give the Saints a 3-2 lead. But that was not the end of the night as on the stroke of full-time, Stars substitute Godwin Emmanuel was brought down in the box by Jesmar Briffa, resulting in the fourth penalty of the night. Aderibigbe sent Camilleri the wrong way to equalise for Vittoriosa.
Luqa St Andrew’s 2-2 Birzebbuga St Peter’s
Also on Friday night but then at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, Birzebbuga earned a dramatic 2-2 draw against Luqa St Andew’s with both of their goals arriving deep into stoppage time.
The match marked the debut for coach Edgar Degabriele on the St Peter’s bench, replacing Edward Azzopardi who left the club after a series of negative results.
It was Birzebbuga who drew first blood on the 11th minute when Ryan Sammut had his shot from an ideal position ending wide with Luqa goalkeeper Aidan Portelli-Isherwood beaten. Luqa replied with a powerful shot from outside the box by Nathan Frendo on the 24th minute which ended just high. Luqa continued the offensive and on the brink of half time it was Dasser Sammut who opened the score.
In the opening stages of the second half Luqa continued when they left in the first one and on 48th minute they doubled the score through substitute Giovanni Galea. Birzebbuga replied on 69th minute with a shot from the edge of the area by Yusuf Sulaiman which was parried by Portelli-Isherwood.
With 2-0 up, Luqa looked home and dry but in the 10 minutes stoppage time given, things went horribly wrong for the team of Neville Galea. The Blues decreased the margin of score through Sulaimain in the 98th minute and the drama did not end there when the Seasiders scored the equalizer only one minute after through Dylan Micallef. Two points less then expected for Luqa, which might be decisive at the end of the ride in the race for promotion.
Xghajra Tornados 0-0 Attard
The late Friday night kick off at the Centenary Stadium between Xghajra Tornados and Attard ended in a goalless draw. A result which satisfied neither side, as Attard’s promotion goals are far away, while the Xghajra clan clearly experienced this draw as two points lost, specially looking at their chances in the 1st half. Attard need to thank their goalkeeper Miguel Caruana for this point, who played a blinder between the sticks.
Early on, Attard striker Nicholas Schembri miscued his rebound attempt from a bad Xghajra clearance. It proved to be the only Attard opportunity as from then on it was all Xghajra.
On 23 minutes, Richmond Hanson provided Larson Borg with an excellent pass but his goal attempt was paraded in style by Caruana. Four minutes later, Caruana did again very well to turn an angled attempt by Hanson into a corner and from that corner-kick, Caruana once more blocked Hanson’s shot at the second post. Caruana produced another excellent save on a Larson Borg attempt on 40 minutes, with the young custodian growing in composure. Close to half-time, quite incredibly, it was again Caruana who prohibited a Xghajra goal, diving into the corner to deny Raylon Paisley’s on target free-kick.
Attard saw more of the ball in the initial stage after the re-start, which resulted in some anxious Xghajra moments in the box but without any clear-cut chances. On 62 minutes, Xghajra’s Dario Borg produced a shot from an ideal angle with again Caruana in the right place to block. Two minutes later, Dario Borg used his speed to outpace his direct marker on the left wing but his diagonal grounder missed target. Perhaps Attard’s best opportunity arrived on 79 minutes when a long free-kick was met by Nick Ghio at the second post but Levi Saliba blocked his attempt. The last part of the game was great to watch with both sets of players throwing everything on attack, but without the desired effect.
PLAY OUT
Qormi 4-1 Gharghur
On Saturday afternoon in the early Sirens Stadium kick-off, Qormi booked their second win on the trot, beating Gharghur 4-1 with veteran Brazilian Cadu scoring a hat-trick. The team of Jesmond Zerafa, sitting out his first of a six-match suspension, could now completely, although not yet mathematically, put their minds at rest for any relegation troubles.
Gharghur on their part are mired in the bottom four places with 13 points and remain in desperate search of points to continue climbing up the table to follow up over last week’s victory against fellow strugglers Marsaskala.
It was Gharghur started strongly with a shot by Isaac Chircop on five minutes that was saved for a corner by Miguel Montfort. But it was Qormi who took the lead after 18 minutes when a Jake Bone cross found Cadu who headed home after Gharghur custodian James Abela had missed connecting.
But Gharghur equalised on 24 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Mark Cutajar was fouled in the box. Cutajar stepped up himself and sent Montfort the wrong way to level the score. Gharghur could have even went up on 28 minutes, when a header by Jamie George Zammit ended up just over the bar and missed another glorious chance on 36 minutes when Miguel Simiana was in the clear, rounded Montfort but inexplicably shot wide with an empty net.
After the break, with Gharghur slowly tiring out, Qormi scored twice in quick succession through Cadu on 56 and 58 minutes. The first one was scored after a fine solo move while Nicholas Falzon provided Cadu with a precise assist two minutes later. Qormi sealed the points 15 minutes from time with a well taken strike by substitute Leon Borg.
Pembroke Athleta 0-5 Qrendi
The early Sunday morning kick off at the Sirens Stadium was target for Qrendi, who beat a below-par Pembroke with an emphatic 5-0 score. The team of coach Gotthard Conti therefore remain second in the ranking of the Play-Out, one point behind Qormi and, above all, without relegation worries. Brandon Bray scored a hat-trick, with the last goal coming from the penalty spot.
After a cagy opening period, Qrendi took the lead on 20 minutes when Bray released one of his typical thunderbolts which found the net via the crossbar, a great goal. Qrendi kept on showing the better ideas and doubled on 28 minutes again through Bray, who headed past Dean Sciberras from a perfect Jurgen Mallia cross. Pembroke clearly struggled, but on 43 minutes, Weverton delivered a fine individual move, crossing to Ryan Sciberras who was inches from connection the ball into the net in what would have been a most welcome goal just before the end of the half.
Two minutes after the re-start, Qrendi added the third goal when Bray, from a free-kick, connected with Ryan Spiteri, who crossed towards the second post with Christian Degabriele heading home in style. This goal basically ended all hopes for Pembroke to get back into the match. Just after the hour, Sciberras did well to block a close-range Bray volley, which could have easily meant Qrendi’s fourth. Three minutes later, Pembroke substitute Jamie Camilleri was unlucky when his overhead-kick hit the crossbar.
The match threatened to turn into a rout with Leo Salgado heading home the 4-0 from a Spiteri corner on 69 minutes and three minutes later, Sciberras brought down Bray in the box with the referee ordering a penalty. Bray stepped up himself and converted, his third goal of the day. A bad day in the office for the Pembroke clan, who were overtaken by Marsaskala in the ranking and are now back on a relegation spot.
Zejtun Corinthians 2-2 Kirkop United
On Saturday afternoon, Zejtun and Kirkop shared the spoils with a final 2-2 score, with Kirkop scoring the equaliser two minutes from time. Despite their joy, Kirkop, following several disappointing results of late, are still in danger of the drop as the team struggled once more. With 23 points collected, things look much better for Zejtun, who however need to be on the alert not to get sucked into the relegation zone with results like these.
The Corinthians took the lead after ten minutes in haphazard fashion when a ball arrived at Stefi Cale with Kirkop goalkeeper Krassimir Zammit missing a connection and the Albanian’s angled shot trickled in off the post. Kirkop reacted on 25 minutes when an excellent cross by veteran Michael Theuma found Juan Manuel Artiaga Roa who however, failed to connect. Zejtun were unlucky not to go 2-0 up when a powerful shot by Cale from inside the box slammed against the post.
Kirkop, with debutant coach David Saliba on the bench after the departure of Matthew Caruana, managed to equalize at the start of the second half when a header by Zven Polidano found the net. Zejtun reacted strongly and once again hit the post, this time from a conclusion by Isaac Micallef on 63 minutes.
However, Zejtun did take the lead on 68 minutes with another superb move by Cale and an almost identical low finish to his first strike. Nothing seem to stop Zejtun to bag the three points, but two minutes from time, Kirkop equalized with a fine header by substitute Dicko Drissa.
Rabat Ajax 0-7 Mellieha
No less than seven goals for Mellieha on Sunday morning at the Centenary Stadium, an emphatic victory for the Northerners in a match which, quite remarkably, remain goalless for an hour, with Rabat having the best opportunities before the break.
A much-needed victory for the Blues, who had their ups and downs this season and were clearly disappointed not to be part of the elite group at this level. For Rabat however, it now looks only a matter of time before their fate, relegation to the fourth tier of Maltese football, will be sealed.
The Magpies started strongly and on three minutes could have gone ahead when Francis Onwuzo smashed his goal attempt against the bar. On 33 minutes, the same Onwuzo was in the clear but his effort was brilliantly saved by James Magro. The German striker was again in evidence two minutes later with another fine effort that was once more repelled by Magro.
Mellieha almost took the lead on 53 minutes when Tejumola Ayorinde’s effort was brilliantly saved by Giancarlo Borg in two attempts. But that was a mere prelude to Mellieha’s goal which arrived on the hour mark when Ayorinde tapped home from an excellent assist by Marc Bolane Adonis
The Blues doubled five minutes later when Ayorinde released Sasa Glumac, who slotted the ball home past Borg with ease. On 73 minutes it was 3-0 when Alexander Akl produced a brilliant finish while three minutes later, Adonis got on the scoresheet himself with a fine individual effort.
The fifth goal arrived on 81minutes when substitute Cody Baguley slotted home from a goalmouth melee’ as Rabat collapsed completely. The rout continued with a sixth goal in the 86th minute through Craig Cilia, another substitute, while one minute later, Adonis rounded off a superb performance with another strike to settle the final score on 7-0.
Marsaskala 6-0 Msida St Joseph
In the late Sirens Stadium Saturday night kick-off. Marsaskala returned to winning ways, beating bottom side Msida St Joseph 6-0, inflicting the heaviest defeat of the campaign on plagued side of coach Paul Bugeja.
Joshua Ojelabi scored four goals for his side and has now scored an incredible 15 goals since making his debut in Maltese football half January. The Irish striker needed just 7 league matches for that, remarkably scoring at least once in every encounter so far and looks on song to beat a few goalscoring records in Malta.
Msida on the other hand, after a promising draw with Vittoriosa Stars two weeks ago, dropped back considerably with two heavy consecutive defeats and look, look Rabat, destined for the drop with just four points from 17 match days, all draws.
Msida St Joseph started strongly and had a fine chance on 16 minutes when Moustafa Maloul fired a strong shot from outside the area that was acrobatically saved by Clyde Aquilina. However, it was Marsaskala who took the lead on 38 minutes with a fine effort by Ojelabi. The same Ojelabi doubled two minutes later with another superb strike to leave the Saints reeling.
The third goal arrived six minutes into the second half with Ojelabi smashing home with another low shot and notching up his hat trick. Just after the hour, Marsaskala made it four this time courtesy of James Oghenekwaro who was provided with a simple tap in. The fifth goal arrived three minutes later, again through a close-range Oghenekewaro strike while Ojelabi notched up his fourth and Marsaskala’s sixth with another simple tap in on 81 minutes.
The team of coach Daniel Vella climbed now out of the red zone, overtaking Pembroke in the standings, on equal points with Kirkop and just two behind Mellieha.
TOP SCORERS
15 – Joshua Ojelabi (Marsaskala) & Leo Salgado (Qrendi)
14 – Godwin Emmanuel (Vittoriosa Stars)
13 – Richmond Hanson (Xghajra Tornados) & Samuel Saldanha (Birzebbuga St Peter’s)
12 – Ricardo Velasquez (San Gwann)
11 – Brandon Bray (Qrendi), Sherif Mohammed (Luqa St Andrew’s), Marc Bolane Adonis (Mellieha), Claudio Antunes Pavlidis ‘Cadu’ (Qormi) & James Oghenewekaro (Marsaskala)
