National Youth League Review MD2: Birkirkara and Naxxar Lions go joint top, Lija Athletic register win

Many teams in the National Youth League continued to find their stride in the second matchday, with a number of impressive wins as well as tight encounters across all four divisions.

Section A

In Section A, Birkirkara secured their second win of the season, coming from behind to beat Valletta 3-1.

Eslam El-Nasar put Valletta head very early on, but it took Birkirkara just 10 minutes to equalise thanks to Nicholas James Agius, who was on top form on the day. The Stripes followed this up quickly to take the lead thanks to Liam Delicata. After the break, Agius scored his second of the game to make it 3-1, while Peter Nnaemeka Ohaka saw red in the 56th minute.

Birkirkara were not the only side to make it two wins out of two though, as Naxxar Lions continued their excellent start to the season by beating Melita 3-2 in a dramatic game at Dingli Ground.

The game remained goalless up until the 54th minute, when Staline Degabriele put Naxxar in front. Kayne Haber then got a goal of his own to double Naxxar's lead. However, Melita responded, with goals from Benjamin Cassar and Matteo Paolo Grech in the 71st and 73rd minutes respectively to make it 2-2.

Despite this, Melita's momentum was short-lived, as Haber scored in the 80th minute to win it for Naxxar with his third goal in two games. Cassar was also sent off for a second yellow card late in the game.

At the Sirens Stadium, Ħamrun Spartans had to rescue a very late point against Floriana in what was a very close encounter.

After a tight start that saw both sides battle it out in midfield, Aidan Edward Previ put the Greens in front in the 32nd minute. Despite this, Ħamrun were quick to respond, as Gabriel Vella equalised through a penalty just five minutes later.

In the second half, Antiago De Flavia scored his fourth goal in two games and looked like he had won the game for Floriana, until Felippe Bugeja popped up with a goal in the 86th minute to draw the two sides level at 2-2.

Section B

Section B was not short of action either, with there being over three goals in every game but one.

Just like last week, when they narrowly beat Gżira United 4-3, Kirkop United were once again involved in the game of the matchday, but this time they were on the losing side, as Sirens beat them 5-3.

Carrick Saliba scored early on for Kirkop, yet newly-promoted Sirens wanted to avoid a repeat of last week's disappointing 6-1 loss against Żebbuġ Rangers, and they scored a flurry of goals after the opener, thanks to Zelyon Mifsud, Redeemer Cachia and Mason Agius, all coming before half-time.

Following the break, Kirkop responded through a goal from David King Joachim, just seconds after coming off the bench, yet Sirens then scored thanks to Kevin Muscat and Mifsud also scored another to put the game to bed. King Joachim doubled his tally in the 89th minute to reduce the deficit to 5-3, yet it only proved to be a consolation.

At St Patrick Ground in Żabbar, Swieqi United continued to show their attacking brilliance, putting seven past Żabbar St Patrick.

Sylvester Siaw, who scored a hat-trick in last week's 5-2 win over Lija Athletic, got the ball rolloing for Swieqi with a goal in the third minute. This was then followed by a goal from Shazen Magri and an own goal from Josmar Scicluna, meaning Swieqi were 3-0 up after just 30 minutes. Magri, who captained the side, then scored his second, yet was sent off only five minutes later.

Despite being down to 10 men, Swieqi still continued to dominate play, and in the second half they extended their lead thanks to another goal from Siaw. Akpan Izaak Etim got one back for Żabbar, yet Neil Apap and Isaiah Micallef scored right after to make it 7-1 to the Owls.

Fgura United also made it back-to-back wins to go up to second in the table, right behind Swieqi.

In a close derby match against Tarxien Rainbows, Fgura claimed all three points, beating their rivals 2-1.
Ryan Tabone put Fgura a goal up 33 minutes into the first half. The game remained that way for quite some time, before Aidan Tabone doubled the lead for Fgura in the 56th minute. Manji Williams restored some hope for Tarxien in the 91st minute with a goal of his own, yet it proved too late as Fgura went home with the win.

Lija Athletic also claimed all three points after a thrilling encounter against Pembroke Athleta that finished 5-1 to the home side.

Jhanluis Aron Hernandez Leal was the star player for Lija, with him scoring four goals in the 14th, 40th, 47th and 57th minutes to give his side a comfortable 4-0 lead. Darion Xuereb Pavia then scored to make it five, before Ishmael Fenech got a very late consolation goal for Pembroke.

Section C

The second matchday in Section C was filled with tight encounters, as indicated through the narrow scorelines that most of the games finished with. In fact, out of the six games played in the league this week, only two had more than three goals in them.

One of these games was Marsaskala vs Senglea Athletic, which finished 4-2 to the home side.
Senglea took the lead very early on thanks to a third-minute strike from Xylon Marmara, but it did not take long for Marsaskala to hit back, with Leon El Yeferni scoring. Zack Agius then made it 2-1 to Marsaskala to turn the result in their favour, before El Yeferni scored his second to take his side into the break with a two-goal lead.

After half-time, Senglea came out firing, with Dion Ciantar taking the deficit back to one goal, yet it was ultimately to no avail, with Marsaskala even adding another goal in stoppage time thanks to Craig Jean Deguara.

The only other game that had three goals or more took place at Rabat Ajax Ground, as Luqa St Andrew's triumphed over Għargħur, recording their first win of the season.

Jaziel Mulongo Kambale got on the scoresheet early on for Luqa. However, Għargħur were awarded a penalty midway through the first half, but Max Kirkbride failed to capitalise, leaving the score 1-0 to Luqa.

After the break, Kambala doubled Luqa's lead with his third goal of the season, and while Antonio Bombardiere got one back for Għargħur, it was not enough to get a point and then game finished 2-1 to Luqa.

The second half of Mellieħa vs Rabat Ajax had to be postponed due to Wednesday's thunderstorm, with Mellieħa leading 1-0.
The results - should Mellieħa hold on for the win - mean that after two games, there are five teams sitting on four points.

Section D

In complete contrast to Section C, matchday two of Section D had goals galore, with the ball finding the net 20 times in the division.

Impressively, nine of those goals came in an emphatic 9-0 win for Birżebbuġa St Peter's over St George's, with Yusuf Abdullahi Sulaiman scoring four of them.

Birżebbuġa asserted their dominance from the start, going 5-0 up inside the opening 28 minutes thanks to goals from Thomas Vassallo Mintoff and Emerson Galea, as well as a hat-trick from Sulaiman. Dykiden Abela, Lian Sciberras and Antoine Grech all got on the scoresheet, while Sulaiman scored another, rounding off a win.

Emerson Bugeja got sent off for St George's in the 67th minute, yet his side did not concede any more goals following his dismissal.

Żejtun Corinthians recorded a comprehensive win as well, beating Qrendi 6-0 at Għaxaq Ground.

Żejtun Corinthians' Sheldon Vella following the 6-0 win vs Qrendi - Image: Żejtun Corinthians 

Sheldon Vella was the star player for Żejtun, matching Sulaiman's tally with four goals of his own during the game. Vella got the ball rolling with a goal in the fourth minute, before doubling his side's lead with another strike in the 39th minute. Klajdi Farrugia added to the scoring after half-time, while Robert Spiteri, Qrendi's captain, unfortunately put the ball into his own net to make it four. Vella then scored a late brace to complete a convincing win for Żejtun, putting their first three points on the board.

Therefore as it stands, Birżebbuġa are sitting top of Section D after making it two wins out of two and thanks to their superior goal difference.

For the full results and table standings, access the match centre by clicking here.