BOV Amateur League II MD7 Review: Kalkara retain perfect record, Msida secure comfortable win

Santa Venera Lightnings 2-3 Kalkara United - 14.12.2025 - Photos by D&D Photography

BOV AMATEUR LEAGUE II
MATCHDAY 7

Santa Venera Lightnings 2-3 Kalkara United
In the early Sunday morning kick-off at the Sirens Stadium, Kalkara United continued their 100 percent record, beating Santa Venera Lightnings by the odd goal in five. With Mdina losing points, the harbour side now have created a gap of nine points on the Mdina, Msida and Siggiewi trio, albeit Msida still have a game in hand.

After five minutes, Kalkara were ahead when Isaac Abela beat the offside trap and scored with a fine low shot. But Santa Venera reacted well and equalised on 17 minutes with an excellent header by Andres Martinez. The Lightnings were on a high and almost went ahead on 19 minutes when Martinez went on a probing run but his shot was saved by Liam Lagana. Kalkara responded on 26 minutes with Miguel Perez Jimenez whose shot was blocked.

Kalkara should have gone ahead at the start of the second half when a shot by Abela smashed against the crossbar. The Saints, with 16-year-old debutant Zenyn Baldacchino as their goalkeeper, had a good chance on 50 minutes with a shot by Martinez brought a super save off Lagana. Five minutes later, Kalkara regained the lead when Perez Jimenez was brought down in the box with the Colombian striker easily converting the penalty. The Greens practically secured the points on 68 minutes when Jean Claude Annati was presented with a simple tap in. The team of player-coach Jamie Pace reduced the deficit two minutes from time with an excellent header by Andre’ Mallia from a corner action. However, Kalkara held on to record a seventh straight win of the season.

Santa Venera Lightnings 2-3 Kalkara United - 14.12.2025 - Photo by D&D Photography

Msida St Joseph 3-0 Gharghur
By beating Gharghur at the Sirens Stadium on Sunday afternoon, Msida St Joseph continued climbing up the table, rising to a second spot in the ranking with a game in hand. It was a deserved victory for the Saints, who faced a depleted Gharghur side however, introducing three young debutants of which two from the bench.

Msida’s opening goal arrived in the 11th minute, when a neatly worked move led to the ball being fed towards Thomas Grima, who after a dummy from Carlston Cardona, was free in the penalty area to tuck the ball into the net. Gharghur tried to respond straight away, and they had a long-range effort from Aaron Doda hit the woodwork. Msida doubled their lead in the 40th minute, when from a Clayton Mifsud pass, David Akindele was sent down the right wing, with the forward cutting inside, before firing past the goalkeeper, sending Msida two goals up at the break.

After half-time, Gharghur came out looking for a way back into the game, but Msida added a third goal in the 56th minute, when a long ball found Akindele, with the speedster cutting inside and beating goalkeeper Leon Seisun with a composed finish. This goal ended all hopes for a Gharghur comeback, with the Saints holding on to the 3-0 lead until the very end.

Mdina Knights 0-1 Siggiewi
Ahead of next Saturday’s clash with Kalkara United, Mdina Knights lost valuable points on Sunday at the Mosta Ground. Despite dominating the game, the team of coach Marco Buttigieg failed to reply to a first-half strike by Gabriel Calleja, who gave Siggiewi their third consecutive victory of the campaign.

Siggiewi scored what proved to be the winner on 20 minutes when Mdina custodian Jacob Chircop St John failed to hold a shot by Juan Manuel Artiaga Roa, with Gabriel Calleja blasting the rebound home. Mdina certainly did their part with a Giovanni Galea header being cleared off the goal-line by Shaun Spiteri on the half hour mark. But it was the team of coach Simon Agius who created the most danger with a goal being annulled a few minutes before half-time due to an apparent handball infringement.

Mdina had to react after the change of ends and came close on the hour when Brazilian substitute Kenny Charlles’ header went over the bar. Not much later, Jordan Vella failed to connect from an inviting cross with Clyde Aquilina doing well to intercept. In stoppage time, the unmarked Roderick Taliana could have doubled for Siggiewi but found Chircop St John on his way.

Dingli Swallows 0-0 Rabat Ajax
The 18th derby between Dingli Swallows and Rabat Ajax last Sunday at the Mosta Ground was a disappointment which came only to life in the last 25 minutes with several chances on both sides. The match never lived up to expectation however, with perhaps Rabat the happier of the two with the point gained with Dingli missing a penalty in the final stages of the game.

Rabat, compact in defence, left the initiative to Dingli from the start which resulted initially into a cagey start with neither team taking risks. Towards the end of the half, Rabat became a bit more adventurous with Victor Mbata having a good chance on 41 minutes but the Nigerian striker failed to find target from an ideal angle inside the box. It proved to be the only highlight of the opening 45 minutes which did not even produce one shot on target.

On 52 minutes, Rabat goalkeeper Jean Matthias Vella was called into action the first time, parading a header of Ronaldinho Daley in style. Dingli kept pressing for an opener with Vella once more doing well to tip a Jurgen Gerada header over the bar on 67 minutes. In the consecutive counter-attack, substitute Aidan Azzopardi was released on the right side of the box with Sven Fabri blocking his goal attempt, with the match finally coming to life. Two minutes later on the other side it was Vella who kept his team into the match with a splendid reflex on a Daley attempt which was slightly deflected through a forest of Rabat legs.

Dingli were awarded a penalty on 73 minutes when Shylon Vella felled Swallows captain Gilfred Gatt in the box. However, Daley’s spot-kick was weak with Vella diving in the right corner. Not much later on the other side, Andrew Zammit did well to parade a Larens Vella grounder, while some moments later, Zammit did again well to block another Vella attempt with Rabat now going through a bright patch. In the 82nd minutes, Dingli should have scored after a fine attack which found Ryan Grech at the second post whose effort was saved.

Larens and brother Shylon Vella had two more off-target attempts in the dying stages of the game with the goalless draw perhaps the best outcome of this derby. Tempers flared after the final whistle with Ajax’ Jake Lovegrove and Dingli coach Nicolai Caruana being red-carded.

Marsaskala 0-1 Ta’ Xbiex

In the second Sunday kick-off at the Sirens Stadium, Ta’ Xbiex collected a valuable three points in their quest for promotion by beating a stubborn Marsaskala side by the minimalist of margins. Buoyed by their recent victory against Gharghur, Marsaskala had a similarly positive display on the day but found a determined Ta’ Xbiex side who deserved the victory.

Marsaskala had the first opportunity with a shot by Vivi-Gaetan Mahop well saved by Brandon Debono on seven minutes. The Blacks replied with a shot by Andre’ Joe Cutajar that went just wide just two minutes after. Bledi Alla had a strong low shot that was saved by Craig Sultana on 18 minutes as Ta’ Xbiex increased the tempo, but found the sturdy Marsaskala defence on their way to settle for a goalless draw at half-time.

Ta’ Xbiex started the second half strongly with a strong shot by Cutajar well saved by Sultana on 48 minutes. 

The deadlock was finally broken on the hour mark with a superb strike by Nathan Belhadj from just outside the box to give Ta’ Xbiex a deserved lead. Marsaskala reacted strongly but, in all fairness, rarely troubled Debono and Ta’ Xbiex controlled with relative ease to continue rising up the table. 

Ghaxaq 1-0 St George’s
The Sunday night kick off at the Centenary Stadium was target for Ghaxaq who reacted well after their 6-0 drubbing against Dingli last weekend. It was the first win of the campaign for the team of Johann Zammit, who saw St George’s dominate the game, creating a flurry of opportunities with goalkeeper Luke Attard once more the protagonist with numerous splendid saves.

One remarkable starter with St George’s was the return of nearly 39-year-old striker Aaron Agius, who up to last week was an Ghaxaq player, now ironically playing his first game for the Pioneers against his former team.

Ghaxaq had a promising start when Brazilian playmaker Joao Otavio was sent through the middle on four minutes, easily beating Saints goalkeeper Clive Caruana with an accurate grounder, the only goal of the game. On 29 minutes, St George’s were awarded a penalty when Ryan Dalli was felled in the box but captain Matthew Gauci blasted his spot-kick against the crossbar. On 37 minutes, Gauci served Jamiu Hassan but his on-target attempt was too weak to trouble Luke Attard, who did very well to keep the countless Bormla attacks at bay. Barely a minute later on the other side, Ghaxaq claimed a penalty of their own when Martin Busuttil went down in the box but the referee saw nothing wrong. Goalmouth action kept coming, now for the Saints, with Attard performing a great save on an Agius header from a corner action.  In stoppage time, at first, Attard blocked a Hassan attempt and from the resultant corner kick, Agius headed against the upright.

St George’s kept pushing for an equaliser after the change of ends but were firing blanks with Ghaxaq surviving quite easily as the Saints were running out of steam. On 70 minutes, substitute Jaden Camilleri should have equalised at the second post after receiving an inch perfect cross from the left but incredibly missed from close-range, the best opportunity for the Cottonera side in the second half. In stoppage time, a scorcher by Kurt Vella was once more paraded by Luke Attard with Ghaxaq welcoming the final whistle with open arms, leaving the last spot in the standings.