The 2024/25 BOV Challenge League; an attractive season ahead

BOV Challenge League Match Day 1 preview

Lija Athletic v Pieta’ Hotspurs (14.09.24, Victor Tedesco Stadium, 15h)
The 2024/25 BOV Challenge League kicks off tomorrow afternoon in what promises to be an intriguing race for the honours, apart for the battle against relegation. With 16 participants, the teams play a full 1^st round of 15 games and consequently, the top eight clubs and the eight lowest ranked teams will be separated into a promotion and relegation pool in another single round-robin competition.
Both Lija and Pieta’ are aiming for a top eight finish this season. Lija, with coach Joe Galea in charge for a record ninth consecutive year, are banking further on established players like Erjon Beu, Mead Mifsud, Leon Muscat, Clayton Giordimaina and goalkeeper Luke Bonnici. Nigerian centre-back Nathan Obidike joined from Mosta to bring more stability in the Athletic defence. Out injured are midfielder Bradley Sciberras and new international Trinidad & Tobago recruit Rundell Winchester, who both most definitely will miss this season opener.
Manuel Caruana, in his second season at the helm of the Hotspurs, have released all their foreign players of last season and recruited Gabriel Mannino (Mtarfa), Emmanuel Bio (Luqa) and Ross McParland from Qrendi this summer. As usual, the club is relying on their excellent youth academy and made sure that most of their youngsters remained at the club, with exception of Kian Leonardi who made a move to Italian Serie D club Fermana. Much is expected of players like Kaydon Catania, Ivin Gatt, Aiden Zammit and Sheldon Borg, all talented youngsters from their own ranks, while the club made several other signings with 2^nd tier football experience like Jeremy Micallef, Daneel Abela and Andrei Spiteri.
Although Pieta’s last victory over Lija dates from 2015, a balanced match is expected between these two ambitious clubs. In pre-season, Pieta’ beat Lija marginally by the odd goal in three while last season, both met once in the 1^st phase of the Championship, a match which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Zurrieq v Swieqi United (14.09.24, Victor Tedesco Stadium, 17h30)
A place in the Championship Pool will be undoubtably the focus for both Zurrieq and Swieqi United this campaign, who meet each other in the second game in Hamrun tomorrow afternoon. Despite reaching the Top Six last season, Zurrieq said goodbye to coach Saviour Debono-Grech after just one year. Francis Cassar replaced Debono-Grech as head coach, with the help of the established Mark Miller, who will be assisting Cassar on the technical and tactical side. The club, now in their third consecutive season in the NCL, brough in some experience, most notably Steve Bezzina in defence and Jurgen Borg between the sticks, while Jamie Zerafa strengthened the team in midfield. In the centre-forward position, much will be expected of recruit Mamadu Bah, a US citizen who lastly played for B71 Sandoy in the second tier of the Faroe Islands league.
With 37-year-old Paul Fenech, Swieqi United brought in plenty of experience as the hard-working midfielder, 61 caps for Malta, joined from Balzan. Another new entry on midfield is Ghanese Collins Gyamfi, impressive with Luqa last season, while other new recruits include two strikers with Augusto Caseres from Marsa and Alan Abdel Rahman from Luqa. Swieqi managed to convince goalkeeper Jean-Claude Debattista, Nicholas Pisani and Alan Schembri-Wismayer, three top performers of last season, to stay with the club another season, a huge boost for coach Pablo Doffo who will start his second season in charge with the Orange.
Last season, Zurrieq beat Swieqi 1-0 in the Challenge League while the season before that, both teams played out a two all draw.

Sirens v Valletta (14.09.24, Centenary Stadium, 18h)
At the Centenary Stadium, Sirens and Valletta will cross swords in their season opener, new surroundings for Valletta who will be playing for the very first time in the second tier of Maltese football. The Citizens will, obviously, start as hot favourites to secure a quick return to the elite league and have already given their faithful fans plenty of hope by winning the Mosta Tournament in style. Their transfer window has been handled smartly by bringing in plenty of NCL experience with the acquisitions of James Scicluna, Peter Xuereb, Paul Lapira and Dejan Vukovic. In Andrei Ciolacu, the Citizens acquired plenty of power up front, Aidan Friggieri was added to the squad from Gudja for the midfield sector while Enzo Ruiz, Rowen Muscat, Neil Micallef, Christian Gauci and Brandon Paiber all remained with the club. After winning the Youth League last season, their line-up of academy player is impressive with plenty of international experience in all the youth categories. As coach, Thane Micallef returned to the capital, after being sacked in September last year.
Sirens were relegated from the Premier League as well but kept faith in coach Steve D’Amato, who will start his second consecutive season with the St Paul’s Bay based club, after already overseeing the 1^st team for 2019/20 and part of season 2020/21. The Blues are a transformed side and had to release nearly all their Ghanese players with only Hafiz Akadom being retained. Ryan Mercieca, Mark Fenech and Joel Ellul joined from Naxxar Lions while up front, the lanky Jed Valletta was registered from Birkirkara. With Carlos Chaba entering from Gzira United, they have an excellent centre back with international experience while on both flanks, Gilberto Carrara and Jean Borg will certainly create havoc in their opponent’s defences throughout the season.
From 11 attempts, Sirens have beaten the Lilywhites just once in 2022, with Valletta being victorious on six occasions.

Fgura United v St Andrews (14.09.24, Centenary Stadium, 20h30)
St Andrews, still popularly known as ‘Luxol’ for all football enthusiasts on the island, have left no stone unturned to avoid repeating their dismal 2023/24 season, in which they escaped relegation by winning a Decider against Luqa. The Viola want to do better and, like last season, will face Fgura United in their very first game of the new campaign, a small club who has done remarkably well so far, starting their sixth consecutive season in the second tier of the Maltese football pyramid, a great feat on itself.
Fgura retained coach Kevin Vella, in charge since 2018 and therefore starting his eighth consecutive year with the club, bringing harmony and stability in the organization. The club, who are traditionally giving their youth nursery boys a chance in the first team, kept faith in most of their players who did so well last season. With Gabriel Costa and Guilherme Teixeira, Fgura acquired two new Brazilian strikers, who have been looking good in pre-season. Samuel Buhagiar entered from Zabbar St Patrick, a player who has proven his worth in midfield for all the teams he played for in his career so far. The signing of Gianluca Zammit up front will give coach Vella certainly more options up front. Youngsters Matteo Gambin (ex-Birkirkara) and Gozitan talent Karl Formosa are the last two new entries, making Fgura a rather solid outfit and for sure a team hard to beat for any opponent this season.
Like Fgura, also St Andrews will keep tradition by introducing young player of their own Academy into the team, but have been busy this summer to acquire some necessary experience in their squad. With Rodolfo Soares (aged 39), Dale Camilleri (nearly 32), former Hamrun striker Carlos Henneberg (34) from Argentina and 30-year-old Uruguayan winger Riccardo Correa (118 MPL apps), Luxol signed four seasoned players who need to bring balance into the team. With 25-year-old Brazilian Elizeu, signed from Naxxar Lions, the team should have one of the best midfielders at this level this season. New coach Jose Borg, who is returning to his first love after being sacked by the club during their 2016/17 Premier season, also welcomed Godwin MacKay, Omar Elouni (ex-Birkirkara), Libyan home-grown midfielder Rowad Benhamed, former Lija player Miguel Micallef and Owen Magro (ex-Zabbar) to his team. Should the injury prone centre-back Michael Johnson, who returned to the club last January, return to former glory, the team could be even one of the promotion contenders this season.
St Andrews failed to beat Fgura in their last three mutual games, which resulted into two identical 2-0 Fgura victories and a goalless draw. Luxol’s last victory was obtained on 3 December 2022 (3-2).

Mgarr United v Gudja United (15.09.24, Victor Tedesco Stadium, 15h)
Newcomers Mgarr United will kick off their campaign on Sunday against Gudja, who had to start from scratch this summer after their relegation from the Premier league, a period which lasted five eventful seasons, longer than many expected.
The Northerners confirmed coach Brian Spiteri, who will bring in plenty of experience at this level with 243 games on the bench in the 2^nd tier of Maltese football. With technical director Patrick Curmi backing Spiteri, the club have the two best knowledgeable mentors at the helm of their technical staff one could wish. The Greens however, lost prolific scorer Christian Saint Ebisindor to Gzira United in the Premier League, a guarantee for goals for the past two seasons in the Amateur League. The Nigerian has been replaced by Luka Mijic (ex-Mellieha) and Samuel Boakye (ex-Sirens), with specially the former having an impressive track record in the 1^st Division as the elegant Serbian scored 52 goals in 110 second-tier league appearances. Mgarr’s defence is outstanding, with new entries Samuel Okoh (ex-Hibernians) and former Malta international Joseph Zerafa bringing in plenty of experience, supplementing the rear-guard consisting of Connor Zammit (ex-Tarxien), Kane Farrugia and Adrian Borg. With Jonathan Debono, 385 career appearances, Mgarr brought in a solid and established goalkeeper, while with Ghanese Kwasi Donsu, Sirens’ best Premier League performer last season, the staff at Mgarr have done a fantastic job signing quality players this summer.
With Orosco Anonam, Gudja brought in another experienced coach, but the former Malta international has a huge task ahead as the Nigerian-born has to avoid relegation with a complete new team. Llywelyn Cremona returned to the Gudjans from Senglea and will fill in an important task being the leading figure in midfield. The club signed three Brazilians, which are former Marsa centre-back Wesley Dias and strikers Wilian (aged 25) and the towering Diego, aged 32. Ex-Birkirkara veteran Shola Haruna Shodiya is also part of Gudja’s rather small squad but it needs to be seen if the team lacks enough quality to give a proper challenge to this very competitive edition of the Challenge League.
It will be a unique occasion as both clubs have never met in the second tier of Maltese league football. The clash was last played six years ago in the 2^nd Division with a goalless draw as full-time score. The game was played just 11 times in history, with Gudja winning five, Mgarr two while there were four draws.

Tarxien Rainbows v Mtarfa (15.09.24, Victor Tedesco Stadium, 17h30)
Sunday’s second game in Hamrun is the one between Tarxien and Mtarfa, who have met just once before in an official senior competitive game, nearly two years ago, to be precise on 9 October 2022 when the latter beat the Rainbows by the odd goal in three. Mtarfa would love to repeat this result, as the promoted side surely have set their sights solely on retaining their Challenge League status this season, any point counts.
The Rainbows, now in their fourth consecutive season second tier football after being relegated from the Premier League in 2021, have a Top 8 berth as goal and prefer to go even one step further, which is challenging for promotion. And indeed, looking at their squad, Tarxien could very well be the outsiders this season. With Manji Williams, Gabriel Mensah and Anthony Obonogwo, the team of Jacques Scerri has plenty of fire-power up front as, traditionally, having quality foreigners could make all the difference in the second tier of Maltese football. All three are established names now in Malta, especially for the ones following the Challenge League. But the Rainbows were forced to re-shuffle their squad this summer, with captain Matthew Tabone, midfielder Ryan Cutajar and flank defender Daniel Sant being basically the only three outfield players who prolonged their stay, apart from goalkeeper Andreas Vella. But with acquisitions like Tensior Gusman, Brandon Muscat, Jurgen Debono, Miguel D’Alessandro, Sheldon Mizzi, Conor Borg, Hubert Vella and James Brincat, Tarxien will be a force to reckon with this campaign, also knowing the experienced Edgar Degabriele will assist Scerri on the bench.
The hard working Mtarfa committee had a busy summer as well, trying to add adequate quality to the squad with the aim to avoid a repetition of season 2022/23, when they were relegated out of the Challenge League after just one season. A quick look at this completely new team, under the guidance of Ivan Casha, indeed shows plenty of NCL experience with the inclusion of players like Josuael Azzopardi, Brooke Farrugia, Daren Falzon, Luke Grech, Peter-Paul Sammut, Ryan Tonna and goalkeeper Frederick Tabone. Brazilian centre-back Matheus Carvalho Freitas came from Zejtun, while three foreign attackers were added to the squad with Eric Mensah (ex-Mosta), Hamza Sani (ex-Hamrun Spartans) and Joseph Chilaka Agbakwuru, a Nigerian new to Maltese football. Further additions were Ayrton Senna Azzopardi from Naxxar, James Camilleri from Luqa and defender Kieran Fenech from Zejtun. But not even one regular of their formidable Amateur League squad stayed at the club, something which might raise a few eyebrows. It therefore needs to be seen if Mtarfa can indeed avoid relegation this season.

Santa Lucia v Marsa (15.09.24, Centenary Stadium, 18h)
On Sunday night in the first Centenary Stadium match, Santa Lucia lock horns with Marsa. Santa Lucia, relegated after five years Premiership, engaged plenty of new players, as their squad had a complete over-haul, including a new coach which is former Senglea mentor Liam Mangion. They will face an ambitious Marsa team, who has made it no secret that their ambition is to gain promotion to the Premier League and have been therefore very active on the summer transfer market as well.
The squad of the Lucians is small, but there is quality. Jan Tanti, Abraham Ojo and striker Ibrahim Salis were the three who prolonged their stay with the Saints, who signed four decent midfielders as Andreas Vella, Jonathan Bajada, Brite Ihoumah and Jamie Sixsmith all agreed to join the club. Up front, apart from Salis, the established Brazilian Jean Carlos (ex-Tarxien) and two new young Ghanese recruits (Asante and Mawuema) should bring enough power (and competition) to knock in the goals for the Saints. Quite interestingly, two of the best goalkeepers of last season’s Challenge League, Christopher Farrugia (ex-Marsa) and Miguel Spiteri (ex-Luqa) will compete who will be defending the goal. However, in all fairness, a Top 8 berth after the 1^st round of fixtures should already make their season a success.
That does not count for Marsa. The team were very unlucky not to win promotion in their dominant 2020/21 season (abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic) while the last three seasons were decent but nothing out of the ordinary. The club engaged a new coach as Saviour Debono-Grech joined after just one season with Zurrieq.  Captain Dylan Agius stayed with his first love and it looks like the team has been built once more around the industrious midfielder. The creativity needs to come from diminutive Brazilian midfielder Ewertton, who entered the squad from Gzira United. In defence, only Gianluca Bugeja prolonged his stay, supplemented this season by Daniel Zerafa, Shaun Bugeja and Gillmore Azzopardi. The experienced Gabriel Aquilina is a solid recruit from Tarxien on midfield, while ex-Zejtun and Vittoriosa striker Renan Bigode returned to Malta and should form a deadly trio with fellow Brazilians Robinho (ex-Nadur) and Aslen Kevin. Up front there is also 32-year-old Lydon Micallef, who re-joined Marsa after a season with Lija and two with Sliema Wanderers. Marsa means business this season and rounded off their pre-season in style by winning the EFES Tournament organized by Senglea Athletic.
Marsa’s last victory over Santa Lucia dates back from 22 September 2012, a 5-0 victory in the 3^rd Division. The last four mutual games were all won by Santa Lucia, including a 2-0 victory in January of this year in the 1^st round of the 23/24 FA Trophy.

Senglea Athletic v Zebbug Rangers (15.09.24, Centenary Stadium, 20h30)
Both Senglea and Zebbug can be easily titled as outsiders for promotion this season. Both teams will meet in their season opener, a fixture slowly becoming a classic as it is the 41^st time both clubs cross swords in an official senior competitive game.
Compared to other teams, Senglea could be ranked amongst the ones least active on the transfermarket this summer. New coach Robert Cassar, a Zabbar St Patrick club icon as a player and coach, kept faith in various players including Kane Bonello, Terence Vella, Keith Vella, Steve Meilak, Tyron Fenech and goalkeeper Glenn Zammit, the backbone of the team last season. The squad was been enrichened by new additions such as Alex Cini, Irvin Abela, Emerson Vella, Neil Falzon, Ghanese George Tetteh and Senegalese powerhouse Mouhamadou Ngom in the back, while up front, much is expected from Benjamin Tweneboa, a Ghanese, and Nigerian Jerry Ayi Alex. A balanced squad with plenty of choice in each department, enough to play Top 8 and, most probably, even to challenge for promotion.
Despite the tough 2023/24 season, Zebbug kept faith in coach Rodney Bugeja. Like Senglea, the Rangers have kept most of their team of the second part of last season’s campaign, a wise decision as with Johan Bezzina, Shalon Diacono and fast striker Duvan Mosquera, the team were transformed in one difficult to beat by any team. Ayrton Mizzi, Gaetano Gesualdi, Jamie Carbone and goalkeeper Jamie Azzopardi all remained with the club this summer, while Randall Vella and Kurt Bondin left to seek pastures new. It needs to be seen how the team copes with the departure of these two, as they have both been influential players over the past years. The two foreign newcomers are Colombian midfielder Camilo Diaz (ex-Xaghra) and Portuguese centre-back Chico Mendes, born in Guinea-Bissau with an impressive CV in the Portuguese leagues. Many might not expect Zebbug amongst the promotion contenders but the team is well balanced and could go for a surprise. Anyhow, a Top 8 finish should a reasonable goal for the Rangers this season.
Senglea beat Zebbug 2-0 during the 23/24 campaign while Zebbug overcame the harbour side twice during their splendid 2021/22 season (3-0, 4-1). From the 40 previous encounters Zebbug won 20, Senglea 12 and there were 8 draws.