NATIONAL AMATEUR LEAGUE I PLAY OUT
Pembroke Athleta 2-1 Gharghur
The main fixture of the weekend in the National Amateur League I was the relegation clash between Pembroke Athleta and Gharghur on Saturday afternoon at the Centenary Stadium. The latter started the match with a one-point advantage above the red zone and knew a victory was needed to safeguard their status, sending both Pembroke and Marsaskala to the fourth-tier next season.
It did not develop this way however, as Pembroke obtained a hard-earned odd goal in three victory over Gharghur. When the news came in that Marsaskala were defeated by Mellieha, Pembroke could start the party as the team of coach Jeffrey Mifsud secured their Amateur League I status for another season.
In was a rather balanced match with both teams having their moments, the game could have gone either way. All three goals arrived in the first half hour of the game with eventually both goalkeepers, Pembroke’s Dean Sciberras and James Abela of Gharghur, standing out to avoid a festival of goals.
Weverton made sure of the best possible opening for Pembroke, anticipating on some hesitant defending of Gharghur before slotting home with a grounder from the edge of the area after just two minutes play.
On 21 minutes, Pembroke doubled when Jordan Vella ran into the box, releasing a precise grounder which Abela initially blocked but Jayden Fenech was at the right spot at the second post to score. Just before the half-hour mark, Gharghur managed to pull one back through Miguel Simiana, who was the most alert from a goalmouth melee’, knocking in from close-range.
Gharghur steadily saw more of the ball towards the end of the opening 45 minutes and one minute before the break, Simiana was inches close to connect to a Nobukatsu Tsuchiya cross, with Pembroke failing the stop the darting run of the fast Japanese.
Seven minutes after the re-start, Canas was felled in the box by Sciberras but the referee in charge remarkably waved to play on. Just after the hour on the other side, Roderick Taliana blasted his close-range attempt against the crossbar.
On 68 minutes, Simiana had a huge chance to equalise for Gharghur when sent in the clear but Sciberras came out of his goal to block to make another important save.
With Gharghur throwing all on attack, Pembroke nearly capitalised on the space available with Weverton producing some darting runs, coming close to score a third on two occasions. Kyle Sciberras-Balbi was also close to score the third from a Sebastian Montano corner at the second post but the defender failed to find target.
With two minutes regular time left, Sciberras did well again well to block an on-target Tsuchiya grounder which was the last real opportunity for Gharghur to score. Therefore, after five successful consecutive seasons in the third-tier and a gallant fight against the drop, Gharghur return to the bottom division of Maltese football next season.
Marsaskala 2-5 Mellieha
In a match played simultaneously with the above one, Marsaskala were looking for nothing less than a victory to keep themselves in contention for a possible relegation playoff or even salvation outright. However, Mellieha were not in the mood for presents at the Sirens Stadium, beating the team of coach Daniel Vella with the emphatic score of 5-2.
After a cagy opening, the first chance of the game arrived after 26 minutes when a shot by Marsaskala team captain Christopher Galea ended up just wide of Mark Cutajar’s left-hand post. On 31 minutes, James Oghenekewaro went on a probing run with a pass to Galea whose strong effort was easily saved by Cutajar.
Galea finally was third time lucky on 42 minutes when he steered a superb free kick past Cutajar who could only parry into the net. But in first half stoppage time, Mellieha equalized thanks to a brilliant pile driver from outside the box by Malcolm Vella Vidal.
Marsaskala came close again on 49 minutes when a shot by Oghenekewaro had a superb angled effort that was equally majestically saved by Cutajar. But it was Mellieha who took the lead on 57 minutes when young Daniel Ighalo found a gap in the box and cooly slotted past Clyde Aquilina. The Blues made it 3-1 a minute later when a cross by Craig Cilia found Sasa Glumac who slotted home with ease.
Mellieha made sure of the win and doomed Marsaskala to relegation when they won a penalty on 75 minutes after Luke Vella Critien clearly handled the ball. The defender was taken off having suffered what seemed as concussion. Michael Camilleri made no mistake from the spot drilling the ball into the centre of the net.
Marsaskala reduced the deficit three minutes from time with a header by Joshua Ojelabi, an consolation goal but an important one as it was goal number 20 of the campaign for the Irish striker, ending alone on top of the Top Scorers classification in the Amateur League I.
Ighalo had another chance a minute from time to reduce the deficit further but his effort was saved easily. But Mellieha added another in stoppage time when substitute Liam Spiteri smashed into an empty net, sealing a deserved 5-2 victory for the Blues, who can now concentrate on their Amateur Cup semi-final fixture against Qrendi on Wednesday.
Marsaskala however, return to the fourth-tier after an absence of five seasons, a period in which they even played a season in the Challenge League (2022/23).
Qormi 2-2 Rabat Ajax
In the late Friday night kick-off at the Centenary Stadium, Qormi and Rabat concluded their campaign with an entertaining two-all draw. It was a season of disappointments however for both sides, as Qormi missed out on their desired Top Six spot, while Rabat failed to avoid the drop with a disastrous season.
The team of coach Riyad-Mynel Gango Rtsa however played a good game against Qormi, playing once more several youngsters and with a few experienced additions, we predict that their stay in the fourth tier of Maltese football will not last long.
Qormi did not waste much time before taking the lead as on 14 minutes, Cadu released an unstoppable grounder from the edge of the box to give the team of Jesmond Zerafa the lead. Before that moment, both veteran goalkeepers, Miguel Montfort for Qormi and Rabat’s Jean Matthias Vella, already had to interfere several times with splendid saves.
On 30 minutes, Ousman Ismaila curled a great left-footer behind Montfort from a free-kick, an excellent equaliser for the Magpies. Up to that point a deserved equaliser as Rabat most certainly had their fair share of ball possession, moving forward whenever it could. Towards the end of the half, Rabat wasted several chances with lanky 16-year-old striker Chris Quaye and the ever-present Jake Cordina coming close to double.
Rabat continued the good work after the break and took a deserved lead on 54 minutes. A splendid diagonal cross of Craig Borg was well received by Calvin Bonett on the edge of the box, beating his direct marker to curl the ball top corner, a picture goal.
Qormi equalised on 68 minutes when substitute Jamie Lee Micallef setup Cadu who beat Vella in the six-yard box, his 16th league goal of the campaign and his 20th of the season, with the nearly 37-year-old Brazilian scoring his 247th goal ever since arriving in Malta in 2009, impressive figures.
The yellows pressed hard for a winner and dominated the latter part of the match. On 77 minutes, Jayden Borg crossed towards the unmarked Leon Borg who however failed to connect from close-range and two minutes later, Leon Borg passed perfectly into the path of Cadu who however failed to shoot on target from an ideal position. On 82 minutes, Vella did well to block another Cadu attempt with Zachary Tanti eventually clearing for a corner.
Zejtun Corinthians 2-0 Msida St Joseph
Paul Falzon’s Zejtun Corinthians ended their season on Friday night with another victory, beating bottom side Msida with a goal in each half, settling nicely on a final rank four in the Play-Out. The match could have gone either way with Msida missing a penalty halfway the second half and Zejtun doubling straight after, which basically meant game over.
Both sides created several goalscoring opportunities in the opening 30 minutes, with Msida’s best on 13 minutes when Mateo Calle Cardona was sent on a run down the heart of the Zejtun defence, with his shot ending wide. Msida goalkeeper Connor Frendo had to deal with several on-target attempts by the Zejtun strikers, parading them all.
However, on 31 minutes, Zejtun were awarded a harsh penalty when Adrian Carabott went down in the box with the referee somehow deciding to point at the spot. Stefi Cale, who was still in the running for the Amateur League I Top Scorers title, blasted home from 11-meters to give his side the advantage.
Msida went through a bright patch towards the end of the half which started with another Cardona opportunity on 39 minutes, which Anson Saliba turned stylish into a corner. Moments later, Saliba blocked an on-target Luke Camilleri shot from another neat Msida attack.
On 42 minutes, Yuya Emura came close equalising but Saliba was once more at the right place to tip his rising shot into a corner via the crossbar. On the stroke of half-time, Emura’s displayed a wonderful first touch to release himself from his marker but failed to beat Saliba in a one-on-one situation.
Six minutes after the re-start, Moustafa Maloul’s close-range attempt for Msida was cleared from the goal-line by the Zejtun defence. Two minutes later, the Saints were awarded a penalty when Gilmore Azzopardi brought down Cardona in the box. The Colombian stepped up himself but failed to beat Saliba with an off-target attempt.
With Msida failing to convert their chances, the Corinthians doubled two minutes later when Clyde Bouvet served Cale in the box, finishing with an accurate grounder which left Frendo hapless.
Towards the end of the game, Zejtun created several other opportunities, mainly through Cale who was chasing his Top Scorers title. On the other side in stoppage time, Maloul’s free-kick hit the woodwork which would have been a fitting consolation goal for one of the shining lights of Msida this campaign.
The two goals by Cale rounded off his impressive season with 19 league goals, who scored 14 of the goals in the last nine games. Despite this impressive run, it proved to be one short for the Albanian of clinching the Top Scorers title at this level.
Kirkop United 1-2 Qrendi
The Southwest derby between Kirkop United and Qrendi at the Sirens Stadium on Saturday brought the National Amateur League 1 proceedings to an end, another encounter played just for the record as both sides have been safeguarding their 3rd tier status long ago.
It was a harsh result on Kirkop, who should have scored a few more but missed a good number of chances throughout the game while the ones conceded could have been avoided.
Qrendi almost opened the scoring after just two minutes but Brandon Bray’s header ended up on top of the goal net. Kirkop replied with an excellent effort by Jamie Cassar which was saved point blank by Miguel Abela.
It was Qrendi who took the lead after 25 minutes when Bray managed to profit from a mix up in the Kirkop defence to advance forward and slot past a hapless Krassimir Zammit. Kirkop had another good chance on 38 minutes when Jamie Cassar missed a sitter in front of goal.
David-James Saliba’s team continued creating chances at the start of the second half, but Abela was in fine fettle. Qrendi should have doubled on 68 minutes when Carvalho Ayesller smashed a point-blank shot with Zammit performing a superb save.
Qrendi’s second arrived on 76 minutes when a precise cross by Gianfranco Micallef found the irrepressible Bray who concluded with great skill, his 17th league goal of the campaign. Right at the end, Dale Tabone pulled one back for Kirkop by converting a penalty.
TOP SCORERS
20 – Joshua Ojelabi (Marsaskala)
19 – Stefi Cale (Zejtun Corinthians)
17 – Brando Bray (Qrendi)
16 – Claudio Antunes Pavlidis ‘Cadu’ (Qormi) & Richmond Hanson (Xghajra Tornados)
15 – Leo Salgado (Qrendi) & Samuel Saldanha (Birzebbuga St Peter’s)
