BOV Amateur League 1 MD4 Review: Attard extend perfect start, Qormi beat Xghajra

Photos by Owen Damato, Malta FA

BOV AMATEUR LEAGUE I
MATCHDAY 4

Attard 2-1 Victoria Hotspurs
Attard’s remarkable start to the season continued on Sunday at the Centenary Stadium, with Daniel Agius’ side beating Victoria Hotspurs by the odd goal in three in a well-contested game. Attard have therefore won all their four opening games and lead the table by a maximum 12 points, three and four points ahead of neighbours Mqabba and Qrendi, respectively. The Hotspurs, surely one of the pre-season favourites to clinch promotion, bumped into their second-consecutive campaign defeat after being held by Qormi two weeks ago.

The Gozitans made a strong start and took the lead in the seventh minute when Kurt Borg beat Zach Valletta from close range. In the 16th minute, Eduardo Wagner tried his luck from outside the box, but his effort went just over the crossbar. Attard created their first chance in the 23rd minute when Precious Nwankwo’s overhead kick went wide. They continued to push forward and, on the half-hour mark, managed to equalise when Nwankwo broke through the defence and, despite pressure from Karl Micallef, slipped past his marker and beat Sultana with a fine shot. In the 32nd minute, Nwankwo once again threatened the Hotspurs’ goal, but Steve Sultana made a good save. The last action of the first half arrived in the 41st minute when Nicholas Schembri ended up one-on-one with Sultana, only for the latter to block his effort.

Attard FC 2-1 Victoria Hotspurs - 09.11.2025 - Photo by Owen Damato - Malta FA

Attard started the second half brightly and in the 48th minute, Tejumola Ayorinde saw his shot come off the upright. The match took a turn when Victoria Hotspurs were reduced to ten men after Micallef was sent off for a second bookable offence. In the 68th minute, Ferdinando Apap’s shot was saved comfortably by Valletta in the Attard goal. Attard made the most of their numerical advantage and scored the winning goal in the 75th minute through Jayden John Bonanno, whose first-time strike caught Sultana off guard and found the back of the net. A minute later, Victoria Hotspurs had a goal from Borg disallowed for offside. In the 77th minute, Schembri forced another good save from Sultana, while two minutes from time, Wagner’s powerful shot was saved well by Valletta.

Lija Athletic 0-1 Mqabba
Mqabba’s dream-start of the season continued Saturday at the Mosta Ground, beating Lija Athletic with a minimal 1-0 score in a match which never reached any heights. Much to the credit of the Mqabba defence, Lija failed to find the net or even come close to scoring and still have to gather their first victory of the campaign.

Lija had the upper-hand in the opening phase but without creating any opportunities worth mentioning. In fact, it was Mqabba, who were pushed back into their own half up to that point, who had the best chance when Luka Mijic headed a Luca Bugeja free-kick inches wide on 22 minutes. On 36 minutes, Mijic nearly punished a misunderstanding in the Lija defence but the lob of the Serbian striker missed target. Lija continued to fire blanks up front, with the Mqabba rear-guard surviving the attacks relatively easily and it was even the team of coach George Magri who broke the deadlock as on 41 minutes, lanky French striker Cedric Gaoue brilliantly unleashed a top corner strike from just outside the area, beating Bonnici. In stoppage time, young Lija centre-back Kyle Debono nearly beat Mario Bartolo from a Sammut free-kick but the Mqabba goalkeeper saved in style, in what was most definitely the best opportunity of the game for Lija.

The scrappy game continued after the break with neither side creating any danger with plenty of midfield battles instead. The Mqabba rear-guard faced a few challenging moments from several Lija free-kicks but managed to clear them all with Bartolo rarely tested and the match slowly fading out as Mqabba, clinically carried on the minimal advantage up to the final whistle.

San Gwann 1-2 Qrendi
In the early Saturday afternoon Mosta Ground kick-off, Qrendi beat San Gwann by the odd goal in three, a hard-earned victory for the team of coach Kevin Ellul who were more clinical on the day and most definitely created the better chances. San Gwann were a depleted lot with various missing players, including the injured Argentinian playmaker Gonzalo Virano, as fielding the starting eleven must have given coach Xavier Saliba some headaches.

Qrendi took an early lead through Joseph Ogunnupe who rounded off neatly from a Christian Degabriele cross from the right flank after just seven minutes play. Four minutes later, Qrendi nearly doubled through Brooklyn Sciberras’ close-range header from an Ogunnupe cross, which sailed inches wide. The Saints, with an all-Maltese starting line-up, reacted with an accurate Matteo Vella shot on 16 minutes, which was turned into a corner by Qrendi custodian Christian Cassar. Four minutes later, the same Vella did well to shake off two markers in the box, crossing to Ryan Muscat who tapped home the equaliser at the second post much to the delight of the San Gwann supporters. On 27 minutes, Cassar did well to turn an on-target scorcher by Muscat into a corner. Both sides had their opportunities up to half-time but the score remained 1-1 at the break.

11 minutes into the second half, Qrendi scored what proved to be the winner thanks to a wonderful individual effort by Ogunnupe, who entered the left side of the box and neatly placed the ball behind Saints goalkeeper Luciano Camilleri. The Saints tried to stage a reaction but it was Qrendi who again came close on 76 minutes when Brandon Bray curled his attempt against the crossbar with Camilleri beaten. San Gwann did push for an equaliser with Matteo Vella being unlucky with a header from a Denilson Borg free-kick on 84 minutes that sailed inches over the woodwork. A few minutes later on the other side, Ogunnupe should have decided the match with a third Qrendi goal after being send in the clear by Gillmore Azzopardi but the Nigerian missed target with only Camilleri to beat. Deep into stoppage time, San Gwann were incredibly close to earn a dramatic late equaliser but Vella’s attempt went straight into the arms of Cassar.

Senglea Athletic 0-2 Zejtun Corinthians
The late Sunday kick-off at the Sirens Stadium was target for Zejtun Corinthians, beating a hard-working but disappointing Senglea side 2-0 with a goal in each half. Zejtun were most definitely the more clinical of the two, with Senglea missing several chances with the late Zejtun goal being the hammer-blow for the ambitious yellow-reds. The ambitious Cottonera side started the season with promise, but still need to record their first victory on the field of play.

The opening phase, played with high intensity, belonged to Senglea with the unmarked Rees Demicoli coming close on 13 minutes, heading a Ryan Tonna free-kick in de hands of Zejtun goalkeeper Anson Saliba. Not much later, Leejoe Schembri, who played his 300th career game, forced Saliba into a difficult save which the Zejtun custodian turned into a corner. But on 27 minutes it was Zejtun who scored first from a splendid counter-attack, with Stefi Cale unselfishly laying off to Fabrizio Zammit who beat Sean Mintoff with an excellent finish. On 35 minutes, Senglea had a good opportunity through Ogechukwi Olahewe, who served Joseph Willy from the left but the Nigerian blasted his attempt over the crossbar.

Straight after the restart, Mintoff performed a great block on a Zammit first-timer, which could have easily meant the second goal for the Corinthians. On the other side on 55 minutes, Ohalewe combined well with Schembri but his screamer sailed wide with Saliba anchored. Senglea continued to push forward searching for an equaliser with Timmy Thomas coming close on 62 minutes with a shot on the turn. But in the 76th minute it was Clyde Bouvet who doubled by rounding off a Zejtun attack with an angled shot from inside the area, much to the delight of the Corinthians supporters. Two minutes later, substitute Adrian Carabott had the 3-0 on his shoe but his diagonal attempt sailed inches wide. Zejtun did not allow Senglea back into the match in the remaining time left, bagging their second victory of the season and rising to a fourth spot in the ranking, along with Mellieha who have the same number of points.

Luqa St Andrew’s 0-3 Mellieha
Like Zejtun, Mellieha also collected their second win of the season thanks to a 3-0 victory over Luqa St Andrew’s with all three goals arriving in the second half. The opening period was most definitely a balanced encounter with perhaps Luqa even having the better chances, however, after the second Mellieha goal the Saints seemed to throw in the towel.

The original St Andrew’s were close to break the deadlock in the tenth minute when Collins Gyamfi’s free-kick was blocked by Slaven Micallef with Clayton Salerno heading the rebound over the bar. Mellieha had a good opportunity on 25 minutes when Portuguese striker Alex Sander assisted Alexander Akl on the edge of the area but the striker aimed his attempt too high. On 39 minutes, Gyamfi did well on the left side of the box to serve Nathan Frendo, whose weak shot was however paraded by Micallef.

Mellieha opened the score on 58 minutes when Alex Sander rose high to head home a Vitinho free-kick at the second post. Four minutes later, Akl doubled for the Blues, taking full advantage of a misunderstanding between Edward Bugeja and Deon Caruana, with the Mellieha speedster walking freely towards Andre Fenech to kick home with ease. The third goal arrived on 72 minutes with Vitinho again the provider to Alex Sander who kicked past Fenech from close-range with Luqa down and out. Michael Camilleri nearly added a fourth some minutes later but blasted wide from an ideal angle. Deep into stoppage time, Dasser Sammut should have scored a consolation goal with only Micallef to beat but the Mellieha shot-stopper saved in style.

Pembroke Athleta 0-0 Kirkop United
In the Sunday morning kick-off at the Sirens Stadium, both Pembroke and Kirkop were firing blanks in an uneventful game without any highlights. Goalscoring opportunities could be counted on one hand which resulted into a cagey game. Both teams recorded their second-consecutive league draw with Pembroke in particular being desperate in their need for points as they are still without a win and in fact just scored once in their four opening games.

The opening half was a balanced one with both sides having a few half opportunities. On 24 minutes, Tyrone Fenech crossed to Pembroke captain Kyle Sciberras-Balbi who headed against the side-netting. Kirkop threatened a few times as well, mainly through some corners or free-kicks but both defences were well organized and not in any mood for presents.

Eight minutes after the break, Sciberras Balbi’s scorcher from close-range was fisted away by Miguel Falzon and not much later, Falzon was on the right place again to save a Samuel Saldanha attempt. On 78 minutes, Falzon performed a great save on a Weverton header from a free-kick action, the best chance for Jeffrey Mifsud’s side, who most definitely saw more of the ball after the change of ends and perhaps were the hardest undone with this stalemate.

Xghajra Tornados 1-2 Qormi
In the late Centenary Stadium kick-off last Sunday, Qormi returned to winning ways by beating Xghajra Tornados by the odd goal in three. It was the first match for new coach Clive Mizzi, who took over from Jesmond Zerafa who resigned not long after Qormi’s defeat to Attard a few weeks back. Therefore, the Mizzi era started well for the ambitious Qormi, who try to get their promotion bid back on track.

Xghajra Tornados FC 1-2 Qormi FC - Photo by Malta FA

The match started well for Qormi, who took the lead after just seven minutes through Dale Mifsud. Six minutes later, Qormi had the chance to double their advantage when Emmanuel Garba was brought down by goalkeeper Miguel Abela, but Mifsud fired the resulting penalty over the bar. In the 40th minute, Qormi were awarded another penalty after Garba was fouled again, and this time Neil Tabone made no mistake from the spot to make it 2–0.

The Tornados tried to get back into the game after the break, with Shaban Chikh Ali testing Qormi goalkeeper Cain Formosa with a header on 55 minutes. Qormi could have extended their lead in the 70th minute when Garba’s lob went just over the crossbar. Xghajra managed to pull one back late on through Chikh Ali, but Qormi held firm to claim all three points and are now mid-table with six points, with another test in the BOV Amateur Cup against Lija Athletic up next, followed a week later again versus Lija, but then in the league.