Naxxar Lions edge closer to promotion, epic victory Marsaskala

BOV CHALLENGE LEAGUE MATCH DAY 23 REVIEW
TOP SIX
Tarxien Rainbows 2-3 Sliema Wanderers
Sliema Wanderers, who already won promotion to the Premier Division last weekend, recorded their 11^th consecutive win in the 2022/23 Challenge League, a sequence which started on 4 December last year. The team who held them to a draw before that, Tarxien Rainbows, were the opponents of Sliema last Saturday, and gave the Blues again a good run for their money. Sliema came out victors by the odd goal in five, with Lydon Micallef scoring twice to bring his season totals in the league on 13.
Micallef had a chance on 16 minutes after an excellent pass by Jean Carlos but Matthias Debono came out of his goal in time clear the danger. Nine minutes later on the other side, Rashed Al Tumi did well to block a Jairinho attempt, before the ball was cleared into a corner. Sliema finally broke the deadlock on 41 minutes through Micallef, who hit home with a diagonal shot from a Jake Engerer assist.
Just after the hour, Tarxien equalised thanks to Daren Falzon, crowning his 100^th league appearance at this level with a fine goal. Micallef, on 79 minutes from a Jean Carlos pass, slotted home for Sliema to regain the lead and two minutes later, Jean Carlos scored the third for the Blues from another precise Engerer cross. Juninho brought back hope for Tarxien by converting a penalty two minutes before the end of regular time but the Rainbows failed to score an equaliser in the remaining time left. With five matches to go, Tarxien are five points behind Zejtun on a fourth spot, with both teams battling it out for a Play-Off spot.

Melita 1-2 Naxxar Lions
After beating Melita by the odd goal in three on Sunday, George Vella’s Naxxar Lions only need two more victories to seal promotion to the Premier Division. The Lions had to work hard to overcome a plucky Melita side, who has shown some neat football the past months but were rather unlucky in their finishing. The Amateurs are ten points behind a Play-Off spot and only when all forthcoming results are going their way, they might mingle into this challenge. Quite realistically however, this scenario looks rather unlikely.
Naxxar came close to take the lead on 17 minutes when Edson Farias’ shot hit the post from a corner. Melita were never outplayed however and took the lead on 26 minutes with a screamer of a goal when wing-back Andrew Messina let fly from 35 yards with his effort smashing into the net. What a way to score your very first senior goal.
After the break, after a period of pressure, Naxxar managed to equalize through Robinson Blandon on 56 minutes, who profited from an error in the Melita defence.  The match continued in quite exciting fashion with Naxxar piling up the pressure but with Melita dangerous on the counter-attack, leaving the outcome of the match wide open. Three minutes from time however, Blandon scored his second of the day and the winning goal for Naxxar to send their fans into a party mood as the Premiership is around the corner.

Zurrieq 1-4 Zejtun Corinthians
Nothing seems to go right for Zurrieq in this Top Six section, recording their fifth defeat from five, losing all their matches and conceding 20 goals in the process. Despite taking the lead against Zejtun halfway the first half last Saturday, they succumbed to the pressure of Zejtun after the break, eventually conceding four goals without reply.
The 1-0 half-time score was a deserved one for Zurrieq, who could have scored a few more as the Corinthians were certainly not at their best. Early in the match, Kurt Darmanin and Dasser Sammut missed two sitters for George Magri's side. On 21 minutes however, veteran centre-back Mauro Bonnici broke the deadlock, heading past Christopher Farrugia from a precise Andrea Azzopardi cross. On the half hour, Igor Misan could have doubled but the elegant Serbian midfielder saw his effort go inches over the crossbar.
After lemon time, Zejtun managed to turn the match into their favour. After Andres Yepez missed two chances on 49 and 51 minutes, it was Kenley Scerri who equalised close to the hour, immediately followed by another goal through Yepez who drilled home from close-range from a James Brincat cross. Zurrieq tried to stage a comeback but two minutes before the end of regular time, Nick Ghio put the outcome of the match beyond doubt with a third goal for Zejtun with a great header from a corner action. Yepez added his second of the day deep into stoppage time, rounding off a through ball in great style for Zejtun to book their second win in the Top Six group.

PLAY OUT
Qrendi 0-1 Swieqi United
After recording their fourth win in the Play-Out against Qrendi, Swieqi United are the new leaders in the Relegation group. More importantly, the minimal 1-0 victory over Qrendi also means a step closer into safety, as things look very bright for Steve D’Amato’s men. In fact, one more victory, ie three points and they are taking part for another season in the Challenge League. On the other hand, this was a real missed opportunity for Qrendi to get back into contention, as with a win they should have overtaken Attard into a safe place in the ranking.
The match itself was a disappointment which lacked goalmouth action. Swieqi scored the all-important goal on the 37-minute mark when Jamie Scerri matched on to a cross to conclude past Sean Mintoff. Instead of Qrendi pressing forward, they were continuously pushed back into their own defence as Swieqi were more interesting in adding a second then consolidating their 1-0 advantage. This proved to be the right tactic as Qrendi’s attack, who were without top scorer Cadu, were non-existent, also thanks to the resolute Swieqi defence who never put a foot wrong. 

Fgura United 1-1 San Gwann
Kevin Vella’s Fgura United remain the only team in the Play-Out group without conceding a defeat, although four of the six Fgura matches ended in a draw. Like Swieqi and St Andrews, they should seal their salvation within the next two match days, as they are clearly one of the better teams in this Relegation group. San Gwann, who booked a useful mid-week victory over Lija, know that a point against Fgura is not a bad result, however, the team of coach Xavier Saliba are still in dangerous waters and deeply involved in the relegation battle which will go on, most probably, until the very last kick of the season.
San Gwann had a golden chance to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty after eight minutes. Tobi Akiti stepped up but his shot slammed against the post with Fgura getting a reprieve. The rest of the half was a drab affair and the first real goalscoring chance came in stoppage time when a shot by Marcelo was brilliantly saved by Miguel Spiteri.
It was Fgura who took the lead right at the start of the second half when Marcelo latched onto a cross from the right and managed to steer the ball into the net. However, San Gwann were level six minutes later when Isaac Cutajar managed to head home after a fine cross from the left. Both teams had their opportunities to score and take home the three points in the second half but failed to double.

St Andrews 2-1 Attard
What counts for Swieqi and Fgura also counts for St Andrews, who are almost home and dry after their 2-1 victory over Attard last Saturday. Their point-tally is the same as that of Fgura, 35, which means they could seal their season with two or three good results from the remaining five fixtures left.
St Andrews took the lead on 16 minutes when a fine cross by Santiago Martinez found Luka Mijic who blasted into the net past Zach Valletta. Attard came close a minute later when Bledi Alla was unlucky not to equalize when his shot slammed against the post. But not much later, Attard managed to equalize on 21 minutes when Alla finally slotted home after efforts that were cleared miraculously off the line by the St Andrews defence.
Brian Said’ side retook the lead just 25 seconds after the start of the second half with a fine individual effort from Welington de Oliveira, a goal which proved to be the winner. Attard had an incredible chance on the hour but somehow, the forwards could not put the ball into the net with St Andrews controlling comfortably for an important victory. Deep into stoppage time, Attard defender Keith Fedele was shown a straight red card for serious foul play.

Lija Athletic 4-3 Vittoriosa Stars
Lija’s ding-dong season continued with a hard-earned odd goal in seven win over Vittoriosa on Sunday evening. The team of coach Joseph Galea left it late to secure the all-important three points in the most dramatic fashion with two stoppage time goals, one on each side. It was a great match to watch for the neutral spectator with both teams giving it all to come out winners.
The Cottonera side took the lead on the 28^th minute thanks to a Junior Dibola diagonal shot from the left which surprised Lija custodian Luke Bonnici. Jeremy Delmar doubled for the Stars a couple of minutes later from the rebound to increase the advantage for his side. Just before the break, Lija pulled one back thanks to a tap in by Duvan Mosquera.
Mosquera levelled matters in the 54th minute with a low shot from inside the area and the Colombian striker completed his hat trick on 76 minutes with an angled shot in the left corner. Vittoriosa were stunned but their never-say-die attitude rewarded them with the equalizer deep into stoppage time thanks to superb direct freekick by Aaron Sammut. However, Lija had the last say thanks to substitute Elise Okito who scored the winning goal with a solo effort as he advanced from the right flank beating two defenders and unleashing a grounder. A great win for Lija, who needed to reply from their below-par performance in midweek against San Gwann. The cards for Lija look good but they also need to obtain seven to nine points from the remaining five fixtures to be sure of another season Challenge League. On the other hand, with just 17 points sharing the last spot with Mtarfa, hopes for Vittoriosa have completely faded as it looks darker for the Stars week by week.

Marsa 0-0 Mtarfa
Eversince the departure of target man Lucas Ribeiro during the January transfer window, Marsa finds it hard to find the net. This clearly showed in the goalless draw against lowly Mtarfa, as they failed to score for the third time in six Play Out matches, having only scored three since the Brazilian left to Gzira United. Marsa dominated for large stretches, but failed miserably in creating chances. Slowly, the team is getting dragged into the relegation zone.
Marsa had a slight upper hand in the first half, but created very little danger in the box, being rather careless up front. The best two chances were in fact for Mtarfa, who came close on nine minutes when a perfect Justin Zammit cross from the left found Kenneth Abela, who’s header missed target by an inch. On 28 minutes, Gianfranco Micallef should have put Mtarfa one nil up but the quick forward blasted in the side netting from an ideal position.
A few minutes after the re-start, Mtarfa defender Gabriel Mannino cleared the ball from the goalline after a Justin Grioli corner created havoc in the Mtarfa box. Marsa continued to show the better ideas but rarely tested Slaven Micallef, to the frustration of their faithful supporters. Mannino’s header from a corner two minutes into stoppage time sailed inches over the bar. In the attack on the other side that followed, Marsa created their best goalscoring opportunity of the match when Luca Brincat smashed his shot against the woodwork, the closest they got to a goal last Sunday afternoon.

Marsaskala 5-0 Mqabba
Undoubtedly the surprise of the weekend was the large 5-0 win of Marsaskala over Mqabba, earning three precious points in their battle against relegation. The team of coach Brian Vella completely demoralised Mqabba, showing the neat and constructive football it needs in their quest for salvation. They showed that it is certainly not too late for them, although they need to get a result out of each of the five remaining fixtures. However, if they show the kind of football they did against Mqabba, they might cause more surprises.
After Rundell Winchester came close to break the deadlock with a couple of shots off target, the same player opened the scoring after 23 minutes as Adrian Carabott delivered a well timed cross which he just needed to tap in. Marsaskala were on fire and made it 2-0 thanks to a close range shot by Joshua Micallef just three minutes later. On 35 minutes it was 3-0 through Allan da Silva after a superb solo run by Winchester.
Mqabba were visibly stunned and did not have a reply in the second half. They conceded two more goals with Adrian Carabott and substitute Andres Tenorio sealing the win for the seasiders.

Image copyright Shaun Camilleri / Naxxar Lions FC Media