QORMI-                             1

HIBERNIANS -                  2

Qormi: A. Vella (J.M. Vella), A. Cassar, O. Sidibe, N. Ojuoloa, B. Berntsson, S. Agius, C. Gauci, K. Magro (E. Vella), C. Monti, R. Micallef (T. Vella), A. Nilsson

Hibernians: J. Borg, R. Gomes , A. Agius, J. Lima, R. Soares (J. Pearson), M. Dias, A. Cohen, B. Kristensen (J. Degabriele), C. Failla, D. Dos Santos (G. Ribeiro), J. Silva

Referee: G. Tonna

Asst.refs: D. Sultana, L. Portelli

4th official: M. Spiteri

Scorers: A. Cohen 37, O. Sidibe 73, A. Agius 90+

Yellow cards: T. Vella, R. Gomes, S. Agius, E. Vella, A. Agius

Player of the match: B. Berntsson (Qormi)

TMI top 3: 1. C. Monti  2. B. Berntsson  3. C. Gauci

 

SILVIO VELLA

Qormi, under assistant coach Johann Scicluna, following Jesmond Zerafa’s resignation during the week, almost pulled off another surprise result as they were holding champions Hibernians to 1-1 draw until normal time, only to succumb to late defeat into added time.

Andrei Agius, back from suspension, scored a late winner for the Paolites but his side’s performance yesterday was again uninspired and on this evidence they will struggle to retain the title.

Even this undeserved win did not prevent a group of supporters from airing their anger and frustration towards some of the players after the final whistle.

Denni Dos Santos was also returning  after suspension, but Rodolfo Soares’ particpation lasted less than half an hour as the centre back was taken off injured, to be replaced by Jonathan Pearson. Jorginho missed the match because of injury, while Jurgen Borg was back in goal.

The champions poured forward from the start, giving the impression that they wanted to send the match to bed early, following the humiliating defeat against Mosta before the international break. But their build-ups were slow and they were too erratic in the final third to really trouble Qormi’s compact defence.

Their attack lacked a quality final ball and most of their first half efforts were tame. They were lucky to be enjoying a one-goal lead by halftime, courtesy of an Andrew Cohen flick on the turn from a tight angle that beat Qormi keeper Andreas Vella who had been put off balance by a headed clearance from  fellow defender.

Earlier the Qormi keeper  twice rushed off his line to block, first on Jorge Silva and then on Dias as they both were put clear inside the Qormi area.

On 24 minutes Jorge Silva missed the target as he lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper on Cohen’s through pass.

Just when frustration was growing among the Paoiltes in the stands, Hibernians broke the deadlock on 37 minutes. Andrew Cohen celebrated the goal by inviting his team mates to hug coach Branco Nisevic, standing on the sidelines.

Hibernians failed to double their lead seven minutes later as Denni went past Sidibe and Berntsson from the right and sent an inviting cross towards the unmarked Jorge Silva who hit clumsily off target from an ideal position..

On the stroke of halftime, in a rare first-half threat, Qormi almost drew level. Nilsson got the better of Agius as he ran inside the area on a Monti pass, before unleashing a low diagonal drive that beat keeper Borg but was held out by the foot of the post.

Qormi, with Clifford Gauci and Carlo Monti their energetic forces in midfield, introduced Terence Vella for Micallef in the second half. They were gaining a greater share of possession as Hibernians kept squandering more chances. Towards the hour, Cohen played a long ball forward, chased by Jorge Silva who did not control well and keeper Vella blocked into a corner.

The miss cost Hibernians dearly as Qormi managed to level matters on 73 minutes. As the Hibernians’ defenders rose to clear Monti’s sailing freekick, the ball flipped off Ousmane Sidibe’s head past the helpless keeper Borg.

Hibernians tried to react but they hardly looked any dangerous, even with the inclusion of Gilmar Ribeiro and Jurgen Degabriele. Ten minutes from time, Qormi keeper Vella was forced to leave the pitch after a collision with Agius.

But deep into five minutes of added time, reserve keeper Jean Mattias Vella produced a point blank save to turn into a corner Degabriele’s close header. From Dias’ resulting corner defender Andrei Agius turned attacker to head in Hibernians’ late winner, celebrating again by running straight into the coach’s arms.

MOSTA-                   0  

NAXXAR LIONS-       2

Mosta: Y. Cini, T. Farrugia (A. Borg), M. Micallef, O. Guobadia, R. Grech (J. Brincat), H. Yau, S. Chukwide (S. Fidelis), R. Ekani, I. Zammit, B. Frederick, E. Micheletti

Naxxar L: J. Azzopardi, B. Rajovic, A. Scicluna, M. Gnenebre, R. Cardozo (D. Bonnici), D. Falzon (O. Sidoine), R. Cassar, J. Debono, I. Grech, E. Lattes, A. Tarlazis (M. Del Negro)

Referee:  C. Pisani

Asst.refs: M. Scerri, D. Castillo

Additional asst.refs: M. Borg, P. Farrugia

4th official: E. Spiteri

Scorers: E. Lattes  14, 17

Yellow cards: S. Chukwide, J. Azzopardi, O. Guobadia, J. Debono, B. Rajovic, S. Fidelis, E. Lattes

Player of the match: E. Lattes (Naxxar L)

TMI top 3: 1. A. Tarlazis  2. E. Lattes  3. S. Fidelis

Attendance: 1,196

 

Naxxar Lions could not have celebrated the arrival of new coach Clive Mizzi at the club better than beating neighbours Mosta in this hotly contested derby .

Naxxar looked motivated, were full of energy and fully deserved this first league win after seven consecutive defeats.

They chased and harried and could not really have given much more  to get new coach Mizzi off to a winning start.

The new coach changed almost half the Naxxar team, with the inlcusion of Julian Azzopardi in goal and Moise Gnenebre and Ishmael Grech in defence, and shaped his side into a 4-1-4-1 formation, with the industrious Armando Tarlazis in front of the defence and Emiliano Lattes their most advanced player, in the absence of the not fully-fit Oussou Sidoine, who only went in as a second half substitute. Angus Buhagiar was missing through injury.

Naxxar largely subdued their neighbours, even if Mosta could justifiably reflect that they created the better chances.

Mosta managed only one 15-minute spell in the first half when they put their opponents under sustained pressure, after falling two goals behind, and more might have been expected of them, especially after their impressive win over champions Hibernians a fortnight before.

Ivan Zammit’s side struggled yesterday without the suspended Edin Murga, who was replaced by Samuel Chukwide as Mark Brincat was exiled to the bench and Hassan Yau started in midfield instead.

Mosta, as expected had moved the ball with greater purpose in the opening exchanges but Naxxar soon emerged as a threat of their own. The Lions scored twice in quick succession within three minutes.  Short of the quarter hour, Mosta keeper Cini was late to go down as he was beaten by Emiliano Lattes’ low diagonal shot from the edge of the area.

Hardly three minutes later, Cini was beaten again, this time being faultless, as Lattes advance inside the Mosta area and unleashed a powerful low drive as Mosta looked like making life difficult for themselves.

By the half hour, Mosta coach Ivan Zammit knew that something had to change. He made a double substitution, sending in Mark Brincat and Saviour Fidelis.

Soon Mosta were covering more ground and looked more dangerous. On Ekani’s cross, Frederick’s firm header was saved by keeper Azzopardi. After that Guobadia shot slightly over and a Fidelis header, off Brincat’s cross, narrowly missed the target.

As they tried to pull a goal back before the break, Fidelis’ shot on an Ekani short free kick, was turned into a corner by the grounded keeper Azzopardi.

The game became increasingly error-strewn after the interval. Mosta seemed to lose their rhythm, with the delivery of their crosses looking poor and the Naxxar keeper was always up to task with his handling of high balls.

The Lions still looked menacing. A Falzon effort was footed out by keeper Cini before Lattes was denied by the Mosta keeper’s one-handed save on the hour.

Julian Azzopardi’s goalkeepeing helped preserve his side’s win as well. On 70 minutes he produced a smart save as he parried Frederick’s goal bound header and Scicluna cleared the loose ball into a corner.

Five minutes from time, the woodwork even denied Mosta a consolation goal at least. Fidelis thumped his powerful free kick against the bar.

Some scuffles between players ensued after the final whistle and both Mosta’s Ian Zammit and Naxxar’s Ricardo Cardoso were shown the red card.

 

Stewart Said

 

ST.ANDREWS..........0

BALZAN...................2

 

St.Andrews: K. Calleja, J. Williams, D. Camilleri, M. Sehitaj, M. Guillaumier, J. Farrugia, K. Nwoko, M. Johnson, C. de Nguidjol (J. Walker 85’), C. Cumbo, L. Grech (M. Grima 60’)

Balzan: C. Cassar, D. Grima, E. Bilbao Zarate (J. Corbalan 82’), S. Arab, G. Mensha, A. Vujacic, A. Effiong, E. Serrano Valero (T. Agius 65’), L. Micallef (S. Cipriott 75’), M. Focsa, J. Grioli

Scorers: A. Vujacic 55’, 56’ (B)

Referee: Esther Azzopardi

Assistant Referees: Roberto Vella, Sammy Attard

TMI Top 3: 1. A. Vujacic (B) 2. L. Micallef (B) 3. A. Effiong (B)

BOV Player of the match: Aleksandar Vujacic (Balzan)

Attendance: 449

 

Balzan stayed at the top of the BOV Premier League when they defeated St. Andrews 2-0 with two goals in the second half. Balzan deserved the win as they dictated play through out the 90 minutes, with St. Andrew’s defensive plan working only in the first 45 minutes. But two goals in two minutes decided the game.

With this win, Balzan claimed the sixth win of their campaign and are on top alone with 20 points while St. Andrews are now the only team without a point.

St. Andrew’s coach Wayne Attard made three changes from their defeat against Birkirkara as Kris Calleja started in goal instead of Diego Rossetto, while Mariglen Sehitaj and Liam Grech took the place of Nicola Andreis and Luca Cosmai. On the other hand after their late win against Qormi, coach Oliver Spiteri who still had to do without the injured Steve Bezzina, Ryan Fenech and Bojan Kaljevic, made two changes as Maxim Focsa started in defence instead of Clive Brincat while Lydon Micallef was prefered from Luke Sciberras.

Balzan almost took the lead after two minutes when from a free-kick by Grioli, Effiong scored from close range with a good header, but the assistant referee Roberto Vella raised the offside flag. Balzan had the initiative but they were finding it difficult to open the St. Andrews organised defence and we had to wait till the 21st minute to see another action as Effiong entered the penalty area and crossed in the direction of Lydon Micallef but he fired over the bar from close range.

On the 33rd minute a free-kick from distance by Joseph Farrugia finished off  target. Five minutes later Balzan could have taken the lead when from a good counter-attack, Effiong passed to Samir Arab who drived a low cross to Lydon Micallef but the brave Kris Calleja managed to intercept the pass. On the 42nd minute an effort by Nwoko finished over the bar.

Balzan continued to attack after the break and on the 53rd minute went close but after a confusion near the penalty area, the defence managed to clear the danger from the fatal line. But two minutes later, Balzan broke the deadlock when when Lydon Micallef crossed from the left in the penalty area where Aleksandar Vujacic was ready to slot past Calleja. Balzan doubled a minute later when from a well planned action, Effiong continued with a brilliant heel to the unmarked Aleksandar Vujacic who had no problems scoring from close range.

After the second goal, the game calmed itself as Balzan kept controlling easily while St. Andrew’s tried to create some danger. On the 74th minute from a cross from the right side, the header from Vujacic was saved well by Calleja. Ten minutes later substitute Michael Grima tried to reduce the margin with a good run but his shot finished wide. In the extra time a shot from a central position by Godwin Mensha finished over the bar.

 

PEMBROKE..........1

TARXIEN R...........2

 

Tarxien: A. Baker, E. Baker (D. Zerafa 55’), M. Caruana, B. Giglio de Oliveira, T. Tabone Desira, T. Caruana, D. Meira Santos (L. Montebello 52’), A. Azzopardi, L. Omeruo, M. Tabone (B. Muscat 66’), J. Pedro Oliveira Santos

Pembroke: M. Farrugia, Z. Levnaic, A. Cini, R. Tanti, O. Bugeja, P. Barbetti, K. O’Brien, S. Eddin Arab (G. Bardsley 71’), A. Laudisi, G. Villalobos, A. Martz

Skorjaw: A. Laudisi 14’ (P), L. Montebello 62’, D. Zerafa 77’ (T)

Yellow Cards: G. Villalobos 72’ (P), M. Caruana 94’ (T)

Referee: Sandro Spiteri

Assistant Referees: William Debattista, Thomas Debono

TMI Top 3: 1. J. Pedro Oliveira Santos (T) 2. A. Martz (P) 3.A. Laudisi (P)

BOV Player of the match: Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos (Tarxien Rainbows)

 

Tarxien Rainbows returned to winning ways when they defeated Pembroke 2-1 with two goals in the second half in a hard fought game. A disappointing result for Pembroke as they missed several chances but also the episode on the 16th minute left a mark in the game. With this win, Tarxien climbed above their opponents and Sliema with 12 points.

Pembroke coach Winston Muscat made one change from their win against Naxxar, as Siraj Eddin Arab was given the opportunity for the first time to start in the first eleven replacing Leighton Grech. On the other side, Tarxien coach Jacques Scerri made four changes from their defeat against Valletta. Timothy Tabone Desira and Ayrton Azzopardi replaced the suspended Alex da Paixao Alves and Carlos Hevia Menendez respectively while Matthew Tabone and Danilo Meira Santos took the place of Daniel Zerafa and Luke Montebello.

It was Tarxien who created the first danger after a minute when Luck Omeruo entered in the penalty area and passed to Danilo Meira Santos but his shot finished over the bar. Pembroke went infront on the 14th minute when a deflected shot by O’Brien, finished in the direction of Ariel Laudisi who made no mistake in front of Cassar with a good left-foot shot.

Winston Muscat’s team could have went two goals in front, two minutes later when Baker passed backwards to Andrea Cassar, who didn’t controlled the pass, and ran back to save the ball. Cassar managed to clear the ball that looked beating the fatal line but the referee waved play on. A minute later, the shot by Danilo Meira Santos finished a bit wide. Four minutes later a free-kick by Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos was saved well by Matthew Farrugia.

Pembroke applead again for an indirect free-kick in the penalty area on the 25th minute when Cassar intercepted an alleged back-pass, but again Spiteri waved play on. Winston Muscat’s team continued to attack on the 32nd minute when from a good counter-attack Villalobos passed to Siraj Arab who advanced but his final shot finished off target. Tarxien finished the first half on the attack when on the 44th minute Triston Caruana passed to Danilo Meira Santos but after shielding the ball to his right, his effort finished wide.

Tarxien started the second half better and went close to equalise on the 49th minute when Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos tried a difficult shot behind two defenders but Matthew Farrugia responded bravely with a fine save. Pembroke were again dangerous on the 58th minute when from a counter-attack Martz passed to Siraj Arab who was in a central position but his left-foot effort was saved easily by Cassar. Three minutes later Cassar had to save an well taken effort by Austin Martz.

Two minutes later Tarxien equalised. Lucky Omeruo entered in a central position and verticalised to Luke Montebello who made a good run and beat Matthew Farrugia with a low drive. On the 68th minute a free-kick from an angled position by Barbetti was turned into a corner by Andrea Cassar.

Tarxien scored what had to be the winning goal on the 77th minute when from a corner by Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos, the finished in the direction of the other substitute Daniel Zerafa who slotted past Farrugia. Despite Pembroke’s efforts to equalise, Tarxien could have closed the game definitely on the 93rd minute when Ayrton Azzopardi crossed to Omeruo but his effort was turned into a corner by Farrugia.