Rabat Ajax 0

St George’s 0

Rabat missed a golden opportunity to go on top of the table when they failed to beat lowly St George’s in a boring scoreless draw. The result gives a clear image of the proceedings where Rabat were the better team in the first half, but they faded away completely in the second period.

The Saints defended for long stretches, but played better in the second half as they went out of their defensive shell, even though they never tested Rabat goalkeeper Mintoff.

For St George’s it was an important point in their quest to avoid relegation.

Rabat held territorial advantage throughout the first 45 minutes, but St. George’s contained their opponents and tried to break the Rabat defence with fast breaks.

Rabat were unlucky in their first attempt when a Caushi freekick slammed against the crossbar. Ten minutes later Yan Cauchi received the ball from Caushi and tested goalkeeper Ryan Marmara who saved in style.

On the half hour Caushi passed towards Dylan Falzon but the Rabat striker miskicked the ball from an ideal position. Four minutes from the break Rabat missed another golden opportunity when Ryan Micallef passed towards Wilson Caushi who blasted over the bar when well placed.

In the second half the match was a boring affair with the only shots at goal in the dying minutes. On 90 minutes Rabat almost snatched a dramatic winner when Caushi’s shot was somehow blocked on the goal line by Dylan Zarb.

In the second minute of stoppage time St George’s went very close when a Gary Inguanez freekick slightly missed the upright.

Rabat A.: S. Mintoff, N. Caruana (W. Borg), C. Schembri, J. Cornforth, N. Farrugia, A. Smeir, D. Falzon, W. Caushi, Y. Cauchi, R. Micallef (J. Felice), D. Azzopardi.

St George’s: R. Marmara, A. Abela, D. Zahra, L. Rocha Dos Santos, R. Boutahir, E. Amaira, D. Zarb, G. Inguanez, K. Grech (C. Schiavone), C. Cesare, W. De Azevedo.

Referee: Sandro Spiteri