Another Mtarfa victory while Qormi go top in Group B

GROUP A
Mtarfa 4-1 Siggiewi
Section leaders Mtarfa made no mistake in the late Friday night kick off against Siggiewi at the Centenary Stadium. Siggiewi proved to be no push-overs, as the Mtarfa team had to work had to get through their resolute rear-guard, but still managed to create plenty of goalscoring opportunities, even after the sending-off incident half way the second period.
For the ninth time this season, Mtarfa managed to break the deadlock within the first 15 minutes of the game, this time through Josuel Spiteri who blasted home from close range from a Kurt Borg assist after five minutes play. George Magri’s side kept on pressing and doubled on 12 minutes when captain Gianfranco Micallef punished a defensive error in the box, beating Seisun from close-range. Two minutes later, Kurt Borg was sent through, rounded Seisun, placing the ball into the empty net to give Mtarfa a dreamstart. Close to the half hour mark, Seisun performed a great save on a top corner Dasser Sammut header. On 37 minutes, Siggiewi pulled one back through Isaac Dankwah-Ansanyi, who headed past Dunstan Zarb from a Lincoln Micallef cross. Both Borg and Micallef could have added a few more for Mtarfa before the half-time whistle but found Seisun on their way.
Apart from a Kurt Borg sitter straight after the re-start, Siggiewi slowly managed to get the countless Mtarfa attacks under control. Things further complicated for Mtarfa when Kurt Borg was shown a straight red card for foul language on 65 minutes. However, three minutes later, a long-range free-kick by Melvin Busuttil was deflected into his own net by Tyrone Grech with Seisun anchored. Siggiewi substitute Arvey Cuero should have reduced the margin five minutes before the end of regular time with only Zarb to beat but the Mtarfa goalkeeper came out on top.

Qrendi 6-0 Santa Venera Lightnings
Gotthard Conti’s Qrendi keep on chasing Mtarfa thanks to a rather uncomplicated victory over Santa Venera, who had to swallow their fourth consecutive defeat. The Lightnings failed to win in their last six games and have now fallen down further into the relegation zone. The Qrendi goals were nicely divided over three players, Larens Vella, Brandon Bray and Dario Borg, who all scored a brace each last Saturday afternoon.
Santa Venera had a brilliant chance to open the scoring after six minutes when Richmond Hanson ended up completely in the clear, but his effort was well saved by Christian Cassar. But it was Qrendi who took the lead on 23 minutes when Vella had his first shot blocked but the fast striker, who started he season with Vittoriosa, managed to slam the ball into the roof of the net from the rebound. Qrendi could have doubled on 40 minutes from a free kick by Miguel Ciantar but Clyde Aquilina saved superbly to deny the Qrendi playmaker. Santa Venera had another glorious chance on the stroke of half time when Hanson turned his marker but smashed the ball into the side netting.
At the start of the second half, Qrendi really should have made it two with Bray shooting point blank from the penalty spot, but Aquilina again produced a superb save. Qrendi finally made it 2-0 on 52 minutes with a low effort by Vella. This goal opened the floodgates as the third goal arrived six minutes later thanks to a fine shot by Bray who gave Aquilina no chance. The Lighnings threw the towel while the goals kept coming and in the 75th minute it was the turn of Dario Borg to get in on the act with a finely guided strike. Three minutes later Bray scored Qrendi’s fifth, rounding off with another cool strike. The Greens continued to run circles in the Saints defence with Borg adding the last goal of the match on 82 minutes, signing off Qrendi’s largest victory of the season.

Birzebbuga St Peter’s 3-1 Pembroke Athleta
In the late Saturday afternoon kick-off at the Luxol Stadium, Birzebbuga had to dig deeper then expected to shake off the resistance of Pembroke Athleta. The team of Jeffrey Mifsud managed to control the seasiders well initially, but two late goals in quick succession gave the Blues another valuable victory, their fifth consecutive one, keeping the pressure on Mtarfa and Qrendi in this section.
After a relatively quiet opening 15 minutes, Birzebbuga should have gone ahead when a fine cross found Ryan Sammut who inexplicably headed wide from just a few yards. Pembroke responded with a shot by Maverick Cassar that was well saved by Mario Bartolo. St Peter’s took the lead when a fine cross found Keith Muscat who rifled the ball past Brylan Tabone in the Pembroke goal five minutes before the break. But Pembroke equalized on the stroke of half time with Cassar slotting home from close range after some excellent work from Weverton.
Birzebbuga remained the better team in the first part of the second half, with Pembroke having their fair share of ball possession, trying to penetrate on counter-attacks. The game came alive on 74 minutes when the Blues retook the lead through an unfortunate own goal by Kurt Farrugia and barely two minutes later it was 3-1 when a brilliant cross by Nick Borg found Samuel Saldanha whose bullet header gave Tabone no chance. The Saints controlled the game with ease after that to secure another three points in their quest for promotion.

Rabat Ajax 2-4 Kalkara United
On Saturday afternoon at the Sirens Stadium, a new-look Kalkara United earned three precious points thanks to an impressive 4-2 win over Rabat Ajax. The inclusion of Zvezdan Vukovic and former Swieqi striker Kewell Saliba contributed on no small measure to their victory, with centre-forward Jaden Camilleri scoring a brace, taking his chances well. Rabat, on the contrary, looked vulnerable in defence once more and have now lost further ground in the ranking.
Kalkara forged ahead after just five minutes when Dean Sciberras partially saved a cross shot from the right and Josmar Sammut hit home from close range. This goal filled the Grand Harbour side with confidence and a minute later, following a swift counter-break, a Thomas Grima effort was saved in two attempts by Sciberras. Rabat replied with a cross by Isaac Micallef from the left but Aidan Azzopardi missed a good opportunity hitting high from close range on 22 minutes. Seven minute later, a good move between Yuya Emura, Ryden Gatt and Clyde Bouvet saw Isaac Abela blocking his attempt. Kalkara went close once again on 35 minutes with a cross from the left from which Aaron Hili hit the crossbar with a header. However, five minutes from the end of the first half, Kalkara were not to be denied as Camilleri doubled the score, slotting the ball past Sciberras from inside the area.
One minute in the second half, Paul Bugeja’s side extended the lead, once again courtesy of former Zebbug Rangers striker Camilleri who received a through pass by Grima and hit low past the Rabat custodian. Rabat reduced the gap on the hour with a header by Bouvet following a cross by Rees Demicoli. The Magpies kept pushing and seven minutes from time, Bouvet scored another goal with a header off a long cross. However, hopes of rescuing a point were extinguished two minutes in added time when Mattias Formosa released young debutant Jordie Bajada on the left and the latter hit home past Sciberras.

Xghajra Tornados 4-0 Mdina Knights
The Tornados joined Rabat on the 21-points mark in the standings, beating lowly Mdina Knights 4-0 in the late Saturday afternoon kick off at the Sirens Stadium. A deserved victory for the team of coach Keith Darmanin, who controlled the game well. The match marked the debut of 48-year-old Kenneth Abela with Xghajra, the oldest active player in the MFA competitions, his 14th club in Malta eversince his senior debut with Hibernians in 1992. Remarkably, Abela played the full 90 minutes.
Xghajra started well and scored twice in the space of barely a minute. First, on 19 minutes, Larson Mallia delivered a short corner to Ryan Tabone, whose rising shot from the edge of the area had the better of Mdina custodian Aiden Farrugia. In the attack that followed, Nestor Canas punished a defensive error by the Mdina rear-guard, hitting home from close-range. Around the half-hour mark, both Abela and Canas missed two sitters with only Farrugia to beat.
Five minutes after the re-start, Jean Scholey could have kicked Mdina back into the match after being sent through the middle, with Lark Falzon blocking his effort and Lydin Camilleri missing the rebound. On 75 minutes, Tabone’s scorcher hit the crossbar for Xghajra. In the dying minutes, Mdina had to continue with ten as Giuseppe Versace left the pitch injured with the Knights having used up all their substitutions. This proved to be too hard to handle for Roland Sollars’ team as Xghajra took full advantage of that numerical superiority, scoring another two goals. With a minute regular time left, Carl Magro scored the third with a shot which took a deflection of Kyle Saliba while two minutes into stoppage time, Xghajra even added a fourth through a wonderful curled shot by substitute Jean Paul Baldacchino.

Mqabba 0-3 Mellieha
Match Day 13 was opened on Friday night with the mid-table clash between Mqabba and Mellieha. An important one for both, as neither side can effort to lose any ground in the relegation battle. It was eventually Mellieha who proved to be the strongest, deservedly beating Mqabba 3-0, leapfrogging their opponents in the standings.
At first, Mqabba looked to be on-par with the Northerners, as the first half was a rather balanced one possession-wise, with Mellieha however creating the better chances. On 12 minutes, Andres Viveros’ free close-range header from a Gabriel Sant cross was turned into a corner by Tony Curmi, the Mellieha custodian. Two minutes later, Mellieha took the lead through a splendid header by Malcolm Vella-Vidal. Both teams had their opportunities, the best ones for Mellieha with James Abela doing well to block further attempts by Tejumola Ayorinde and Vella-Vidal, while Nathan Frendo came close for Mqabba with Curmi interfering in time. On 41 minutes, Mqabba escaped when Abela failed to hold on to an Ayorinde scorcher with Vella-Vidal kicking the rebound against the woodwork.
Despite Mqabba’s promising opening of the second half, it was Mellieha who doubled on 57 minutes when Ayorinde rounded off a wonderful solo-effort from close-range, his first goal for his new club. Seven minutes later, Jack Vella’s shot from just outside the area was deflected into the net by Giovanni Buontempo, giving Abela no chance. Mqabba were unable to get back into the match with the Blues bagging an important three points in their fight against the drop.

GROUP B
St George’s 1-1 Mgarr United
This was the big match of the weekend in Group B, kicked-off on Sunday morning at the Sirens Stadium. The match could have gone either way with the draw being a justified outcome of the game.
The Pioneers had the first real chance after 15 minutes with a shot by Morientes Muscat that went just over the bar. Mgarr also had a good opportunity when Christian Saint Ebisindor was in the clear but Blues custodian Damian Borg came out to block. Mgarr had another chance on the stroke of half time from a corner but neither Saint Ebisindor or Jamie Lee Micallef could connect. Otherwise the half was devoid of any real goalmouth action with both sides contesting the midfield in ferocious fashion.
Mgarr took the lead on 55 minutes when a corner by Micallef found Saint Ebisindor who headed imperiously past Borg to the delight of the Green and White faithful. But the Cottonera side managed to equalize on 72 minutes when a great shot by Rudy Cassar-Jeffries from outside the box rifled into the low corner with Jacob Chircop St John given no chance. The game was a thrilling one now as both sides pushed for victory. Muscat had a glorious shot that was well saved by Chircop St John on 77 minutes. There were further chances towards the end but the match finished in a draw, a fair result with Mgarr consolidating their top spot in the ranking.

Qormi 2-1 Kirkop United
The season for Qormi can be described as a very satisfying one so far. The team was most certainly not ranked amongst the expected front-runners a few months back, but by beating Kirkop last Sunday, Lydon Fenech’s men share now the top spot in this section, shared with Mgarr who have a game in hand. Qormi played the completely second half with a man less but Kirkop failed to capitalise their numerical advantage.
All the goals and most of the action was recorded before the break. Qormi started strongly and had a fine shot by Ricardinho that was well saved by the Kirkop custodian after just a minute. Jayden Borg had another fine chance a few minutes later but his shot sailed over the bar. Kirkop responded with a good in swinging freekick by Ryan Dalli that was well saved by Qormi custodian Miguel Falzon. Kirkop took the lead after 12 minutes when a cross found Melchior Grech who made no mistake concluding past Falzon. But a minute later Qormi equalized after some fine work by Jayden Borg whose low shot was tapped in by Ricardinho for an immediate response. Qormi took the lead on the 20-minute mark after some great work by Jayden Borg who found Carlos Debattista who slotted into the net. Gary Bugeja had a good chance to increase Qormi’s lead on 33 minutes but his shot ended up wide. Kirkop had a good opportunity to equalize on 41 minutes but Michael Theuma’s shot from a central position was easily saved by Falzon. Qormi ended up with 10 men on the stroke of half time when Nigel Borg was given his marching orders for a second yellow card.
The second half was a relatively quiet affair with Qormi defending their slender lead and Kirkop rather toothless in attack. Veteran substitute Jason Camilleri had a glorious chance to equalize on 82 minutes but shot over the bar from a few yards. With all direct competitors bagging the full three points, Kirkop have now fallen into seventh place, just one point above Gharghur but two behind number three Marsaskala in this very interesting pack of chasing teams which include San Gwann, St George’s and Vittoriosa Stars as well.

Marsaskala 4-2 Ghaxaq
In the early Mosta ground kick off last Sunday, Marsaskala beat Ghaxaq 4-2 to rise to the third spot in this section. It was a rather harsh result for Ghaxaq, who played a good match but failed to capitalise on their chances and were learned a lesson in effectiveness by the seasiders.
Brian Vella’s team started the match offensively and were two goals up in the space of a minute thanks to a rebound goal by Isaac Abela on five minutes and a powerful shot by veteran midfielder Joseph Chetcuti from an Abela assist barely a minute later. Ghaxaq were stunned but were thrown a lifeline on 38 minutes when Aaron Agius caught Marsaskala goalkeeper Daniel Attard out of position, lobbing home handsomely.
Despite Ghaxaq’s pressing for an equaliser after the break, it was Marsaskala who increased their lead on 73 minutes through Nigerian substitute James Oghenekwaro’s header. It was match over four minutes later when Ryan Spiteri’s shot from just outside the area hit the back of the net. On the stroke of full-time, Christian Desira scored a consolation goal for Ghaxaq, catching the Marsaskala rear-guard in a moment of lack of concentration.

San Gwann 11-0 Ta’ Xbiex
The season for Ta’ Xbiex is moving from bad to worse with another double figure defeat, their third already this season. They were a depleted side once more, with four regulars missing for various reasons, while the Saints were on fire, with Andre-Joe Cutajar scoring a poker and two hat-tricks by Nezar Abouaisha and new Polish recruit Szymon Plocica. The score was already 9-0 at half-time, with San Gwann clearly releasing their foot from the accelerator after the change of ends.
As the score-line rightly suggests, it was one-way traffic all the way. San Gwann went ahead after just five minutes through Cutajar. Abouaisha doubled two minutes later with a simple tap in and the San Gwann captain scored the third on eight minutes with another fine finish. On 14 minutes, Abouaisha squared to Plocica who slotted into an empty net and the fifth goal arrived on 27 minutes through Cutajar who rounded the keeper before finishing neatly. Cutajar scored his third on 33 minutes with a fine header and the embarrassment continued with goal number seven arriving on 37 minutes with Abouaisha rounding off his hattrick. Plocica added two more in quick succession just before the break as the no-contest had long ceased to be competitive.
The second half was a much quieter affair with no less than eight substitutions from both sides, including the Ta’ Xbiex goalkeeper. The Blacks could have scored a consolation goal on 70 minutes but Johan Grech’s shot was well saved by Luciano Camilleri. The double figures finally arrived on 81 minutes with Cutajar notching his fourth strike of the game while Kemekoh Toure scored the Saint’s eleventh goal two minutes later.  Not surprisingly, two records were broken as it was San Gwann’s largest ever victory in their 52 years of existence while the defeat marked the heaviest competitive over-all defeat in history for the Ta’ Xbiex Sports Club.

Vittoriosa Stars 7-0 Dingli Swallows
Also on Sunday afternoon, Vittoriosa Stars recorded another emphatic victory, this time over a poor Dingli Swallows side, whose chances to regain their 3^rd tier status decrease by the week. The Stars already recorded a 10-0 victory over Ta’ Xbiex last weekend and are unbeaten in their last seven league games including six convincing victories.
Vittoriosa were immediately showing their superiority over their opponents in this match as they created various goal scoring opportunities in the first period. The first goal was scored by Liam Gauci whose shot ended up in the corner of the net after just five minutes of play. In the 19th minute, Liam Gauci doubled the scoring when Dingli were unable to clear the ball during a goalmouth melee. On 27 minutes, the Stars scored their third when a free kick taken by Matthew Gauci was headed in by Liam Ciantar.
There was very little reaction from the Swallows, who conceded four goals more in the second half. Vittoriosa were awarded a corner on 51 minutes from which Joseph Ogunnupe scored. On the hour it was most definitely match over when Nigel Spiteri crossed into the box with Dingli captain Gilfred Gatt mistakenly beating his own goalkeeper. On 74 minutes, Dingli goalkeeper Gianluca Pisani let the ball slip through his hands to record a freak own goal from a back-pass. Three minutes before the end, Aaron Sammut added the seventh goal for the Cottonera side from a precise Liam Gauci pass.

Images copyright Walter Sargent