Melita clinch 2023/24 Challenge League title

TOP SIX
Melita 1-0 Marsa
Early Saturday afternoon, Melita were crowned 2023/24 National Challenge League champions by beating Marsa by a solitary Matthew Debattista goal in front of a sizeable crowd at the Centenary Stadium. It was a narrow victory in a rather balanced match which could have gone either way as both sides were given the space to create plenty of chances.  
On ten minutes, Marsa escaped when Andre Carlos incredibly blasted high from practically the goal line after a Debattista cross, who was on his 100^th club appearance with the Amateurs. Eight minutes later, Gosef Mizzi turned a close-range David Xuereb into a corner, the first Marsa opportunity. On 27 minutes, the unmarked Debattista volleyed Melita in front, picking up a loose ball and having all the time to pick a corner from just inside the area. Marsa had their moments and two minutes before the break, Paul Lapira should have done better from an ideal angle but his shot missed target.
Leading Challenge League Top Scorer Andre Carlos came close for Melita with two clear cut chances in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, but failed to find target on both occasions. On the other side on 64 minutes, Dale Mifsud should have done better after receiving from Donys Quintero but his conclusion was weak. However, Marsa most definitely saw more of the ball in this period, surging forward whenever possible. Seconds before being substituted, Debattista could have doubled by hitting the post in a Melita counter-attack, with Karl Mohnani blasting the rebound wide. With three minutes left on the clock, Henrique Motta rose high from a Julian Galea free-kick but his attempt missed target by an inch. Deep into stoppage time, Gianluca Bugeja’s diving header for Marsa deserved more but failed to find the net while moments later, Alan Abela’s angled header from a corner action just missed target.  
It is the fourth time in history that Melita won the Championship in the second tier of the Maltese football pyramid, most recently in 2012 (1^st Division) but also the old 2^nd Division during seasons 1952/53 and 1962/63.

Zurrieq 1-4 Zabbar St Patrick
On Sunday, with Melita already crowned as Challenge League Champions, St Patrick returned to winning ways by beating Zurrieq 4-1 at the Centenary Stadium in a rather one-sided game. The Zabbar side, who already won promotion to the Premier League a few weeks ago, started with their mostly their reserves, only up front they were full force with Ezequiel Ruiz and David Oliveira, the latter scoring a hat-trick.
Emilio Cornago’s side managed to score after just two minutes with a well-placed shot by Andrey Nakov. Zurrieq, who fielded their strongest possible side, replied and equalized in the 21st minute through Chris Baker after a handsome pass by Emerson Camilleri. Zabbar regained the lead just before half time whistle after a solo run by Yoan Anis Kirov beat Zurrieq defence and passed the ball to David Oliveira who just needed to tap it in.
In the second half, on 52 minutes, the Brazilian put again his name on the score sheet with a low shot into the right corner after a good combination with Nakov. On the hour, the unstoppable David Oliveira added his third of the afternoon and Zabbar’s fourth with another fine finish.

Pieta’ Hotspurs 4-2 Senglea Athletic
Manuel Caruana’s Pieta’ Hotspurs shook off the resistance of Senglea Athletic on Saturday night, keeping themselves in the race for the third spot, currently occupied by Marsa. It was an entertaining game between two sides who possess plenty of quality and with not much at stake, could play out freely without pressure. Before the start of the match, former Malta international Terence Vella was given a token by Senglea Athletic for his 400th official career appearance last week
Pieta’ opened the scoring in the third minute as Hibiki Mochizuki was sent through, with Glenn Zammit parading his first shot but the Japanese livewire scored in the rebound. On 33 minutes, Senglea drew level when Daniel Zerafa’s shot from just outside the box took a deflection of a Pieta’ defender, leaving Reeves Cini anchored. Four minutes later, Pieta’ escaped when Sebastain Perdomo’s scorcher hit the woodwork.
On 53 minutes, Vella missed a sitter for the Cottonera side after some good work of Zerafa down the right flank. Just after the hour, Pieta’ were awarded a penalty when Senglea goalkeeper Zammit brought down Yuto Morita in the box. Kian Leonardi stepped up and blasted home in style. Six minutes later, substitutes Cadu and Dale Camilleri combined well with Zammit beaten but Christian Grech cleared from the goal-line. But on 71 minutes, the Hotspurs added their third goal when Senglea lost possession on midfield with Kurt Briffa beating Zammit with an angled shot. Four minutes later, Roderick Briffa served Zean Leonardi who beat the off-side trap, rounding Zammit and tapping home Pieta’ s fourth. On 81 minutes, Senglea pulled one back from the penalty spot through Vella, given for a handling infringement.


PLAY OUT
Luqa St Andrew’s 2-2 St Andrews
This was a decider between the Saints as the loser of the match would probably be going down to Amateur League 1 next season. The draw did not serve any of the two however, who live to fight another day as this Sunday they will both play their final game of the season and both, realistically, need a win to safeguard their status.
The original St Andrew’s had a fine chance on 15 minutes when Camilo Sanchez was in the clear but his shot ended up wide. Luqa won a penalty on the half hour when Emmanuel Bio was felled in the box by Matthew Muscat. Gyamfi Collins stepped up and made no mistake with a precise low shot that sent Jake Pisani the wrong way. St Andrews could have equalised almost immediately but William England’s effort ended up just inches wide. Luxol did equalize on 36 minutes when an unfortunate connection by Fabien Lufi ended up with the ball sailing over Miguel Spiteri for an own goal.
Luqa started the second half strongly and missed a great chance on 55 minutes when a shot by Alan Abdel Rahman was brilliantly saved by Pisani from point blank range. But Abdel Rahman made amends on 63 minutes with a fine effort from a similar position to give Luqa the lead again. With Luqa in the driving seat and a priceless victory in sight, the match got a dramatic twist as St Andrews equalised right at the death when they were awarded a penalty for a hands ball incident in the box. Wagner stepped up from the spot and smashed the ball home. This Sunday, both play teams who are already safe from the drop, with Luqa facing Tarxien while St Andrews need to try to shake off Lija’s resistance.

Lija Athletic 0-4 Zebbug Rangers
The revival of Zebbug Rangers continues with another emphatic victory, this time against Lija Athletic whom they beat 4-0 in the late Victor Tedesco Stadium kick off on Saturday. It was the fourth consecutive win for the Rangers, who now need to beat Zejtun on Sunday in a real relegation clash to conclude their miraculous comeback. Lija, who presented veteran defender Clayton Giordimaina with a token for his 200^th club appearance before the match, were already safe from the drop a few weeks ago and, with an eye on next season, fielded several youngsters.
Duvan Mosquera was sent in the clear on seven minutes and beat Luke Bonnici to give the Rangers the best possible start. Twelve minutes later, Lija were awarded a penalty for a handling infringement in the Zebbug box. Ronald Makalysten stepped up but Rangers’ custodian Jamie Azzopardi made a splendid save, maintaining Zebbug’s slender lead. Play certainly did not become any better as there was very little goalmouth action for the remaining part of the first half.
Five minutes after lemon time, Lija’s Gabriel Diego Farrugia brought the best out of Azzopardi with an excellent hit which was tipped over the crossbar by the Zebbug shot stopper. Mosquera finally scored the relieving second goal for Zebbug on 79 minutes with a marvellous attempt which beat Bonnici. Four minutes later, the Rangers were awarded a spot kick of their own for another hands ball incident, duly converted by Gaetano Gesualdi. Two minutes before the end of regular time, Colombian substitute Miguel Perez-Jimenez even added a fourth goal for Rodney Bugeja’s side, a tap in from a Mosquera cross.

Zejtun Corinthians 0-1 Swieqi United
Ivan Casha’s Zejtun could have kicked themselves into safety by beating Swieqi on Sunday afternoon but did not do themselves any favours as Swieqi, already safe and sound weeks ago from relegation, scored a late winner to add more misery on the Corinthians. The Blues will now face Zebbug this Sunday and need nothing but a win to extent their stay in the Challenge League by another season. A draw could give them a possible Decider for salvation.
Zejtun opened well and had the first chance after 12 minutes with a low shot by Jairinho which was well saved by Gerson Mifsud. Swieqi created their first opportunity just after the half hour mark when Paulo Vyctor had a great shot from outside the box was saved for a corner by Frederick Tabone. Towards the end of the half, Paulo Vyctor had another fine chance when he received a cross from the left but his effort went wide.
The second half livened up considerably with Zejtun stepping up a gear which also resulted into a flurry of yellow cards midway through. Swieqi had an excellent opportunity to take the lead on 66 minutes when Blessing Brafo was in the clear but his shot was saved by Tabone. Swieqi scored what proved to be the winner on 79 minutes when the ball was cleared into the path of Jean Borg who lobbed a beautiful effort past Tabone who ended up in no man’s land. There were further chances for Swieqi towards the end with Zejtun offering a muted reaction, who had Josmar Galea sent-off on 89 minutes after denying an obvious Swieqi goalscoring opportunity. The Corinthians now leave it all for the final match in their bid for salvation.

Attard 1-0 Tarxien Rainbows
A 75th minute penalty converted by Bledi Alla was enough to give Attard a prestigious three points against their more quoted opponents Tarxien Rainbows in the early Victor Tedesco Stadium kick off last Saturday. It was a match without any meaning as Attard were relegated weeks ago to the Amateur League while Tarxien managed to preserve their status last week after beating Msida.
On 14 minutes, Attard goalkeeper Zach Valletta did well to save a Bradley Sciberras scorcher, while on 35 minutes, Valletta did again well to block a close-range Precious Nwankwo goal attempt.
Tarxien were creating the best chances after the break as well, with again Valletta doing well to deny a Rundell Winchester opportunity after a poor clearance by the Attard defence. Attard were second best for large parts of this game but in the 75th minute, Ivan Zammit’s side were handed an unexpected present due to a handling infringement in the Rainbows box. Alla stepped up and comfortably converted. In the dying minutes of the game, Tarxien had an opportunity to equalise while not much later, Attard could have doubled as both teams had their chances.

Msida St Joseph 2-2 Fgura United
In the late Centenary Stadium kick off on Sunday, two late goals by Msida enabled Neville Galea’s side to win a rare point in their tough Challenge League campaign. Fgura were far from their usual performance but still built up a 2-0 advantage at half-time and can only blame themselves of not grabbing the three points due to the countless missed scoring opportunities.
After just seven minutes, Fgura opened the scoring with an absolute stunner by Andrew Xuereb, who produced an unstoppable scorcher from outside the box, a great way to score his first ever official senior goal. Johan Castano doubled on 37 minutes with an angled shot into the right corner after combining well with Michael Gatt and Ofufu Ibeh.
Fgura continued creating chances after the break but were rather careless in the box. The never to die attitude of the Saints enabled them to pull one back three minutes from time thanks to substitute Chidera Ejiofor while deep into stoppage time, Juan Artiago Roa swirled in a great free-kick in the six-yard box with Edward Bugeja being on the right spot at the second post to head home.

Images copyright Walter Sargent