Luqa and Kirkop all square in derby, Msida new Group B leaders

National Amateur League - Review 

GROUP A
Mellieha 0-3 Senglea Athletic
Edgar Degabriele’s Senglea Athletic recorded another victory in Group A of the National Amateur League, beating Mellieha 3-0. After six match days, they have only dropped two points, a goalless draw against Kalkara United, conceding only two goals so far. Their win against the Blues was never in doubt as they dominated the match from start to finish. The Athletic took the lead after nine minutes when Liam Gauci’s powerful shot ended up in the back of the net, beating Tyrone Gauci in the Mellieha goal. Captain Timmy Thomas doubled the score for his team on 19 minutes after receiving from Gauci. Senglea made sure of the points with a third goal five minutes before the break after a cross by Aidan Azzopardi was tapped home by substitute Matteo Desira Buttigieg. Mellieha did stage a reaction in the second half but the match was played with Senglea easily cruising to another victory.

Santa Venera Lightnings 1-2 Zabbar St Patrick
Zabbar St Patrick had to dig deep to shake off the resistance of Santa Venera, with their decisive goal being scored through a penalty in stoppage time of the match.
As expected, Zabbar started strong with a Nick Borg shot hitting the post on 14 minutes. Six minutes after, David Oliveira sent Andre-Joe Cutajar through, beating Lightnings custodian Clyde Aquilina and opening the score for the St Patrick. Borg’s shot on 28 minutes just missed target with Aquilina beaten.
Santa Venera came out of the dressing rooms well with Yuya Emura equalising on 47 minutes with a header at the second post from a corner action. Zabbar did try to regain control of the match but lacked creativity up front with the Santa Venera rear-guard rather easily surviving the attacks coming their way. With the match destined for a draw, two minutes into stoppage time, Santa Venera conceded a penalty after a two footed challenge in the box, with Cutajar converting from the spot, giving Zabbar their fifth win from five, maintaining their perfect start of the season.

Ta’ Xbiex 0-4 Birzebbuga St Peter’s
For the second time in a week, Birzebbuga had the better of Ta’ Xbiex. The Blues already beat Ta’ Xbiex 6-0 in the 1^st round of the Amateur Cup and last Sunday, the team of coach Paul Camilleri repeated their dominant performance with a 4-0 victory.  Birzebbuga took the lead on 15 minutes when Keith Muscat rammed a low shot past Matthew Schembri. On 22 minutes, the Saints should have gone further ahead but Kane Tippett blasted well over from around the penalty spot. But three minutes later it was 2-0 when Tippett squared to Muscat who completely in the clear, easily deposited into the back of the net.
Birzebbuga made sure of the points early in the start of the second half when Tippett finally found the net after Schembri scuppered the ball and left the lanky forward a gaping open goal. The fourth goal came on 52 minutes through Anderjay Grech and another simple tap in.

Kalkara United 1-0 Xghajra Tornados
The derby between Kalkara and Xghajra was target for the former thanks to a solitary goal scored by Brazilian forward Dhonatan early in the second half. After a staid first 40 minutes, Xghajra should have taken the lead on 43 minutes when Aidan Agius Gilford was presented with a sitter inside the box but incredibly shot well over the bar.
Kalkara scored the winner after 53 minutes with Dhonatan Santos da Hora who shot past Miguel Abela after having received from Dylan Zarb. Xghajra pressed hard for an equalizer but somehow could not manage to find it with Kalkara holding on for an important three points. In the dying minutes of the match, Kalkara ended up with ten players as Kyle Azzopardi received two quick yellow cards in succession.

Pembroke Athleta 1-2 Qormi
This was a balanced encounter where both teams created a number of good goal scoring opportunities, but Qormi ending up snatching the win in the last minutes of the match. Qormi took the lead with two minutes play left thanks to Nathan Gauci, who’s shot from outside the box left Pembroke's defence perplexed. Pembroke's efforts were rewarded on 77 minutes when a cross was not cleared well by Qormi's rear-guard and Weverton was the quickest to tap in Pembroke’s equaliser. Qormi stepped up the accelerator in search for a winner which arrived on 85 minutes thanks to Kurt Tanti. A priceless win for Lydon Fenech’s side, who keep in touch with the front runners in this group.   

GROUP B
Rabat Ajax 0-0 St George’s
For the third time this season, St George's had to settle for a draw, sharing the spoils in a goalless draw with Rabat Ajax in an entertaining clash. The draw was a fair result as the two teams shared the exchanges throughout the ninety minutes with both sets of defenders prevailing on the respective opponents' forwards.
The Saints went close to taking the lead on 18 minutes when off a Paul Simon Ellul corner from the right, Aaron Agius' header was turned into a corner. Rabat replied with a cross by Kane Micallef from which Matthew Farrugia headed just wide on 26 minutes. Nine minutes later, Nobukatsu Tsuchiya had a powerful drive ending just wide but the Pioneers were quick to threaten once again with a Jordan Vella assist for Ellul whose low effort was neutralised by Dean Sciberras.
The Rabat custodian performed a great save on a powerful drive by Jake Bowman eight minutes in the second half and another good save on a Jordan Vella effort from outside the area five minutes later. On 77 minutes, Mauro Busuttil, served by Rudy Cassar-Jeffries, had a low shot which was blocked into a corner by Sciberras. Mark Borg tested Matthew Camilleri with a shot from outside the area which was turned into a corner by the veteran goalkeeper one minute later. An angled shot by Kane Micallef from the left was also turned into a corner by Camilleri on 82 minutes. One minute in added time, Matthew Schembri went close for the Blues with a fine rising shot which just missed the target and a minute later, Busuttil was unlucky to hit the upright from close range following a cross from the right.

Ghaxaq 1-2 Msida St Joseph
With Rabat Ajax losing two points, Msida rose to the top of the National Amateur League Group B in the Friday night match with Ghaxaq. The Greens were a hard nut to crack for Msida, but two first half Giovanni Galea goals made all the difference between the two sides. Msida had an excellent chance to take the lead on ten minutes but Romao shot well over from a good position. The Saints took the lead on the half hour mark when Galea sprang the offside trap and ran clear to smash the ball home. Msida doubled ten minutes later with an almost identical move with Galea again completely in the clear and easily slotting past Leon Seisun. 
Ghaxaq pulled one back on 56 minutes when young Shamizen Farrugia helped himself to a fine finish from close range. Ghaxaq continued pressing forward but somehow could not find an equaliser with Msida holding on their slender lead for the three points and top spot in the table.

Mdina Knights 0-4 Gharghur
Last Saturday, Kevin Borg-Degiorgio’s Gharghur emphatically beat Mdina 4-0 with Italian powerhouse Erik Pietribiasi scoring three goals. After a flurry of wasted chances, Gharghur took the lead on 25 minutes when Pietribiasi managed to outflank the defence and slotted home past Matthew Towns, the English ex-Floriana and Valletta goalkeeper who made his debut for the Knights. Gharghur continued dominating the rest of the half but somehow could not add to their tally.
Gharghur started the second half like a house on fire with two chances by Owen Magri and Shawn Vella, both well saved by Towns. On 55 minutes, Pietribiasi scored his second with a rocket of a shot after having received from Magri. Gharghur sealed the issue on 70 minutes when Joel Winters fouled Pietribiasi in the box with the Italian striker converting the spot kick and notching up his hat trick. The last goal arrived on 80 minutes with Robert Ciantar concluding from an acute angle.

Dingli Swallows 0-1 Siggiewi
Neighbours Siggiewi and Dingli also met on Saturday, with Alex Delia’s side beating the Swallows with the most minimum of margins. After a rather quiet opening period, Siggiewi scored what proved to be the winner on 27 minutes when Melchior Tonna headed home from close range. Dingli came close to an equalizer on 38 minutes when Aleksander Kovacic had a stinging freekick that was parried by Ryan Micallef in the Siggiewi goal.
On 69 minutes, Ryan Muscat had a great chance to double for Siggiewi but his close-range effort was well saved by Adam Benjelloun. Siggiewi had further chances to increase the score, but the Dingli defence held on. A valuable three points for Siggiewi in only their second win in the league this season.

Luqa St Andrew’s 1-1 Kirkop United
Match Day 5 in Group B kicked off Friday night with the derby clash between Luqa and Kirkop, which proved to be an entertaining encounter. The first half hour was a rather staid affair with Luqa coming close just after the half hour play with Gilmour Sammut shooting wide from a good position. Kirkop replied on 42 minutes when Isaac Abela was in the clear but Mario Bartolo saved well.
Kirkop took the lead on 52 minutes when Giorgio Bellia freed himself from the Luqa defence and stabbed his shot past Bartolo. But after a period of sustained pressure, Luqa equalized on 79 minutes when Alan Abdelrahman’s shot beat Jonathan Mallia, to save a point for the original St Andrew’s. Therefore, Kirkop remain the only team in Group B without a win, anchored at the bottom with only two points.

Image copyright by Joe Borg