NATIONAL AMATEUR LEAGUE II
MATCH DAY 14
Dingli Swallows 0-3 Victoria Hotspurs
The Sunday night kick off at the Centenary Stadium was target for Victoria Hotspurs, who recorded their 14th league victory of the season, this time over Dingli Swallows who fought bravely and need to be complimented for their work-rate. It took the Hotspurs up to the hour-mark to break the deadlock, which means the tactical plan of Dingli coach Nicolai Caruana initially worked out well, frustrating their opponents extensively.
Nevertheless, it was one way traffic throughout the game. On 19 minutes, Swallows goalkeeper Adam Benjelloun did well to parade a free Kurt Borg header from a precise Daniel Farrugia cross from the right. Six minutes after, Dejan Bogdanovic sent Wellington on a probing run from the left flank, but there was nobody in the right place to finish his excellent cross into the box. Just after the half hour mark, Farrugia served Shaun Attard whose attempt curled wide. On 41 minutes, Kurt Borg came again close with a header which however, once more, failed to hit target. In stoppage time, Owen Yoro Gbekia nearly sent Dingli into half-time with the lead but the French striker failed to shake off his direct marker and concluded weak into the hands of Richard Sammut.
Two minutes after the re-start, substitute Emmanuel Mbong missed a sitter with Benjelloun beaten but his attempt was cleared from the goal-line. On the hour, the Gozitans finally managed to score through an opportunistic goal by club icon Daniel Farrugia, who somehow managed to head the ball behind Benjelloun from a goalmouth melee’. On 64 minutes, Matthias Said rushed through the left flank to cross the ball splendidly towards Kurt Borg who headed wide. Benjelloun was called back into action on 69 minutes, turning a Wellington attempt into a corner after another excellent attack from the left flank. Ten minutes later, Borg doubled with a splendid goal from just outside the box and barely a minute later, Mbong tapped in the third goal in the rebound from a combined Borg and Wellington effort.
Mqabba 4-1 Santa Venera Lightnings
On Saturday afternoon at the Sirens Stadium, Mqabba had to fight harder than expected to shake off the resistance of bottom side Santa Venera Lightnings. The 4-1 score-line might suggest an easy victory, but with the score 2-1, the Saints created several opportunities to equalise but eventually collapsed in the final moments with Mqabba adding two goals more.
On 20 minutes, Mqabba opened the scoring with some excellent one-touch football, an attack set up by Darren Darmanin, who received the ball back from Ryan Dalli and Saturday Nanapere through the heart of the Saints defence, rounding off with an unstoppable grounder. Three minutes later Dali doubled, shooting into an empty net from the rebound after Santa Venera goalkeeper Micallef failed to control an Andre-Joe Cutajar shot. With a few minutes left in the first half, Micallef did well to block a Nanapere first-timer.
Cutajar, in an unusual deep midfield role, came close to add a third with an attempt from the edge of the box on 53 minutes. Mqabba attacked relentlessly but chances were few. Instead, on 70 minutes in a rare Santa Venera attack, substitute Kieran Conti was sent through, beating Mario Bartolo with an intelligent finish. Not much later, substitute Juan Andres Viveros had a free chance to add Mqabba’s third but the Colombian blasted his goal attempt wide. On 79 minutes, Miguel Grima came inches close to equalise for Carmelo Camilleri’s team, with his diagonal grounder missing target by an inch. The Lightnings continued to surge forward but with one minute regular time left in a fast counter-attack, Viveros beat the off-side trap, rounding Micallef and adding Mqabba’s third. Deep into stoppage time, Gabriel Sant even added the fourth for Mqabba with an angled shot while entering the box from the right flank.
Siggiewi 0-3 Kalkara United
In the early Luxol Stadium kick-off on Saturday, after a disappointing outing against Santa Venera the weekend before (1-1), Siggiewi were facing a daunting task against in form Kalkara United who are in the running for a second promotion spot in Amateur League II. The team of coach Bruno Menezes made no mistake however, recording their third consecutive victory with a comfortable 3-0 final result.
After a relatively bland opening period, Kalkara took a deserved lead after 25 minutes when their talismanic striker Timmy Thomas smashed home from close range leaving Leon Seisun with no chance. Miguel Perez Jimenez had a shot that went just wide on 32 minutes and a header by Jean Claude Annati ended up just over the bar. Kalkara doubled on 37 minutes with a brilliant shot by Andriy Pisani into the corner as the Greens continued dominating proceedings.
The second half was a tepid affair with Kalkara controlling easily. On 73 minutes, the Greens made sure of the points when substitute Kenneth Ekezie tapped in after being left in the clear. With 28 points gained, Kalkara are one point behind Mqabba who occupy a runners-up spot, knowing this upcoming Sunday both will meet at the Centenary Stadium.
Ta’ Xbiex 0-1 St George’s
In the early Saturday afternoon kick off at the Sirens Stadium, St George’s beat lowly Ta’ Xbiex by a solitary goal with the winning strike coming from a dubious penalty. The Blues dictated play for long stretches and their victory was certainly a deserved one, but the Saints proved shockingly toothless in front of goal, food for thought for the team of coach Edmond Lufi.
As expected, the Cottonera side did most of the running in the opening phase but limited themselves with some long-range off-target attempts. On 22 minutes, Ta’ Xbiex forced out three corners in a row and from the last one by Juan Andres Vergara, Mark Bonello-Ghio headed inches over the crossbar in what could have been a surprise opener for the Blacks. Towards the half hour mark, Jaden Camilleri came close for the Pioneers with an excellent volley but debutant goalkeeper Nathan Cutajar neutralised, which was actually their first shot on target. On 37 minutes, Jurgen Gerada failed to knock the ball in from a goalmouth melee’ with eventually the Ta’ Xbiex defence clearing.
Seven minutes after the re-start, Gerada came close again with a header from a Kurt Zahra free-kick which just missed target. On 65 minutes however, the Blues were awarded a penalty when goalkeeper Cutajar allegedly brought down Camilleri in the box, a decision which raised a few eyebrows. From the spot, Zahra made no mistake to give his side the lead. On 70 minutes, substitute Sean Ellul should have doubled but kicked high from an ideal angle with only Cutajar to beat. The same Ellul missed a sitter at the second post on 74 minutes from an excellent Matthew Gauci cross but the former Sta Venera player failed to connect from close-range.
On 85 minutes, Ta’ Xbiex could have equalised when Giancarlo Sammut was sent in the clear but his hot went inches wide over the bar. Moments later, captain Nicholas Scicluna was close again for the Blacks, with this time Blues custodian Clive Caruana saving well. With two minutes regular time left, Ellul received his second yellow of the afternoon for a nasty foul on Scicluna. An afternoon to forget for the Cottonera side, who however bagged the three points and are still up and running for a Top 4 spot.
Ghaxaq 0-1 Mdina Knights
An Emmanuel Harrison strike in the first half was enough for Mdina to beat Ghaxaq in a low key match on Friday night at the Centenary Stadium. Mdina were the better team in the first half and dictated matters for long stretches. Ghaxaq saw more of the ball after the change of ends but failed to find the equaliser.
Mdina scored what proved to be the winner on 25 minutes when Nigerian Emmanuel Harrison, in his first start for Mdina, shot low into the net to wrap a well orchestrated move by the Knights. Earlier on, the team of Marco Buttigieg had a good opportunity through Marc Farrugia who shot wide when well placed and just before the break Harrison had another effort going wide.
On the resumption, Ghaxaq looked a different side as they pushed for an equaliser. The Mdina defence passed through some anxious moments even though Ghaxaq did not have any clear cut scoring chances. On 70 minutes, veteran striker Aaron Agius sent a dangerous cross but there was no one to hit home. Four minutes later the same Agius, in search of his 100th goal, had a good effort going slightly wide.
