BALZAN FC- 2
TARXIEN RAINBOWS- 2
Balzan: I. Janjusevic, B. De Oliveira, B. Kaljevic, S. Arab, A. Souza (T. Agius), D. Grima, A. Nafti (L. Micallef), R. Fenech, E. Serrano, P. Fenech, M. Piciollo (A. Effiong)
Tarxien R: P. Schranz, E. Baker, E. Marcelina, T. Caruana (A. Azzopardi), D. Ponce (S. Borg), A. Nilsson, S. Prendes, D. Zerafa, A. Alves, K. Zammit, M. Tabone (J. Galea)
Referee: F. Zammit
Asst.refs: S. Attard, P. Abela
4th official: E. Grech
Scorers: A. Nafti 33, P. Fenech 44, J. Galea 76, A. Nilsson 80
Yellow cards: S. Arab, A. Alves, A. Nilsson, A. Baker
Player of the match: P. Fenech (Balzan)
TMI top 3: 1. P. Fenech 2. E. Marcelina 3. A. Nafti
Attendance: 612
SILVIO VELLA
This was always going to be difficult for the leaders against one of the most in-form teams in the Premeir League.
Yesterday Balzan surrendered a two-goal lead after succumbing to Tarxien’s late revival, to settle for a draw.
It was no great surprise when Balzan went two up before half-time, courtesy of goals from Abdelkarim Nafti and Paul Fenech. Oliver Spiteri’s men have enough experience in their squad to survive even against most ardous sides as Tarxien, who, after going two goals down never really performed cohesively enough as a team.
Tarxien were allowing their opponents to play and presenting very little threat of their own.
But two defensive lapses from the leaders in the final quarter hour, when complacency might have crept in, allowed Tarxien to hit back and salvage a point that looked beyond them.
Balzan now widen the gap to two points above second placed Hibernains, who might take the primcay if they beat Birkirkara on Sunday.
Defeat denied Tarxien the possibilty to cut the deficit on Birkirkara above them.
Having Ebiabowei Baker back in the side after suspension, Tarxien fielded a solid back four in the form of Matthew Tabone and Kurt Zammit as wide backs and Baker and Daniel Zerafa as centre backs, with Emerson Marcelina and Sergio Prendes providing good cover in front of them.
Triston Caruana roamed in midfield with Ponce and Alves playing wide on the flanks in support of central striker Alex Nilsson.
Balzan also defended with four at the back. Dylan Grima and Samir Arab played as wide backs in the absence of the injured Grioli and Bezzina, with De Oliveira and Serrano in the centre. Ryan Fenech returned in the side to keep cover alongside Paul Fenech as Nafti channelled his way through the middle and Alan Souza wide on the right with Kaljevic and Piciollo spearheading the attack. That meant that Lydon Micallef, Alfred Effiong and Clive Brincat were named as substitutes.
Tarxien were the first to threaten. Prendes tested the Balzan keeper Janjusevic with a shot from a distance. Past the quarter hour Nilsson advanced down the left on a Ponce through pass. His shot was held out by keeper Janjusevic with some difficulty.
Balzan were finally able to build some pressure and took the lead past the half hour. De Oliveira played a long ball forward for Kaljevic to control, throwing Baker off balance, creating space for Abdelkarim Nafti to run in and beat keeper Schranz with a delicate chip.
Photos Domenic Aquilina
The goal put Tarxien slightly off track and the Rainbows were punished further with Balzan’s second goal on the stroke of halftime. Grima played a long ball down the right flank for Paul Fenech to chase, advance inside the Tarxien area and score with a low diagonal strike.
Two goals in arrears, it was down to Tarxien to take the game from their opponents in the second half, as Balzan sat comfortably controlling the proceedings without exerting themselves too much.
Tarxien put in Ayrton Azzopardi for more inventive but they could have even gone further behind as Balzan went close with efforts from Souza and a De Oliveira header.
Balzan looked cruising to another routine win, but when they failed to clear their lines, substitute Julian Galea capitalised to hit one back for Tarxien with 14 minutes remaining.
And hardly four minutes later, Tarxien struck again to stun the leaders. This time Alex Nilsson caught keepr Janjusevic slightly out of place and lobbed the ball that hit the underside of the bar before going in.
PEMBROKE ATHLETA- 1
HAMRUN SPARTANS – 0
Pembroke: M. Calleja Cremona, D. Falzon, A. Dhrami, O. Bugeja, M. Attard, R. Kooh Sohna, D. Jawad (B. Farrugia), A. Scozzese, S. Racic, A. Djeljilj, Z. Levnaic
Hamrun S: D. Cassar, P. Texeira (S. Nanapere), M. Micallef, L. Sciberras (L. Motta), L. Grech, J. Grech, I. Misan, B. Paiber (K. Micallef), M. Giusti, J. Neto, S. Raphael
Referee: M. Spiteri
Asst.refs: E. Spiteri, C. Azzopardi
4th official: G. Tonna
Scorers: D. Falzon 7
Yellow cards: Z. Levnaic, M. Giusti, I. Misan, A. Scozzese
Red card: J. Neto
Player of the match: Z. Levnaic (Pembroke)
TMI top 3: 1. A. Dhrami 2. Z. Levnaic 3. I. Misan
SILVIO VELLA
There was finally some respite for bottom side Pembroke when they managed to beat Hamrun Spartans with a solitary goal from former player Darren Falzon, to taste Premier League victory after a three-month abstinance.
This win proved vital in terms of the relief it provided to a team that are badly in need of an injection of confidence.
Following the humiliation against Tarxien Rainbows the previous week, Pembroke’s coach Artim Shakjiri reshuffled his side and made no less than five changes yesterday. He dropped the Roppas brothers as well as fellow midfielder Giannopoulos, besides defender Adrian Borg and midfileder Sunday Eboh. Matthew Calleja Cremona, Zoran Levnaic, Miguel Attard, Asani Djeljilj and debutant Raphael Kooh Sohna started instead.
Pembroke produced voluminous work in midfield, where Arber Dharmi, Zoran Levnaic and even Darren Falzon worked tirelessly in front of a composed defence and fought hard for this deserved victory.
Hamrun were a jaded side, bereft of creativity with many of their players performing below par. After falling behind early, they had Jorge Neto sent off before the break, and that presented a bleak outcome already.
The return from suspension of Massimiliano Guisti, forced Nanapere out on the Hamrun bench. Coach Jacques Scerri also called up Manolito Micallef instead of Karl Micallef as right back.
Hamrun got off to a horrible start when they conceded after only seven minutes in a sloppy manner. Their defence was caught unawares on a Sciberras back header and Darren Falzon found the ball invitingly into his path to slam it in past the helpless keeper Cassar.
Four minutes later the Hamrun keeper had to stretch himself to hold out Falzon’s curling free kick from the edge of the area.
Midway through the half, Pembroke’s Jawad was forced to leave the pitch with an arm injury. But they still remained the sharper side on the ball and on 37 minutes Kooh Sohna picked Racic’s pass, found space but shot fractionally over.
Hamrun remained flat and they failed to put even one decent shot at the Pembroke goal in a poor first half.
Photos Domenic Aquilina
To add insult to injury they had Jorge Neto sent off shortly before halftime as he attempted to hit Racic in retaliation to Kooh Sohna’s foul on Misan.
Hamrun effected a double substitution at halftime, putting in Leandro Motta in midfield and Karl Micallef as right back, switching Manolito Micallef to the left. They tried to show more urgency but were erratic in their delivery of crosses as Pembroke remained organised and tactically well drilled, never conceding spaces to their opponents.
Although they swarmed around the Pembroke penalty area in search of an equaliser, the Spartans looked short of ideas. They only tested keeper Calleja Cremona with a Jake Grech central free kick, after Kooh Sohna had missed the target when hitting Racic’s long ball first time.
And with Pembroke staying tight at the back without trying to strike the killer punch, unsurprisingly the quality of play dipped further in the second half.
A rare glimpse at the Pembroke goal six minutes from time, allowed Manolito Micallef, who had taken a more advanced role, to shoot hard but keeper Calleja Cremona was equal to task.
In added time, Pembroke could have even scored a second when Hamrun were caught with the goalkeeper out of his place but somehow Cassar managed to recover and block Falzon’s final shot.
Mosta 2
Sliema W. 1
Mosta: Y. Cini, A. Caruana, F. Onwudinjo, M. Toth, C. Hengbart (Z. Brincat, K. Frendo), K. Magro, N. Frendo, N. Priso, L. Oseghale (K. Gatt), P. Calcado, H. G. Miranda.
Sliema W.: G. Zammit, F. Temile, R. Spiteri (S. Wisdom), J. Mintoff (M. Potezika), P. Xuereb (G. Aquilina), J. Pearson, D. Dos Santos, R. Correa Duarte, M. Scerri, A. Muscat, JP Farrugia.
Referee: S. Pace.
Asst refs: R. Vella, P. Apap.
4th official: M. Apap.
Scorers: N. Priso, A. Muscat pen., Z. Brincat,
Yellow cards: Y. Cini, P. Xuereb, L. Oseghale, F. Onwudinjo, K. Magro, N. Priso, M. Scerri, P. Calcado, A. Muscat, K. Frendo, F. Temile.
Red card: A. Caruana.
Player of the match: F. Onwudinjo.
TMI Top 3: 1. F. Onwudinjo, 2. D. Dos Santos, 3. K. Magro.
Henry Brincat
Mosta obtained a precious three bonus points in their battle against relegation yesterday when they overcame Sliema Wanderers 2-1.
The returning Njongo Priso gave them the lead, but Sliema equalised from a penalty before the interval. A second half strike from Zachary Brincat proved to be the important winner for Mosta.
It was only the third victory from 20 matches for Mosta – their last win was on 26 September against St Andrews.
Sliema were just a pale shadow of the team that defeated arch rivals Floriana so convincingly just a week ago.
For the Wanderers, Jonathan Pearson, formerly of Hibernians, and Ricardo Correa Duarte, formerly of Gzira, were making their debut in the Blues’ colours.
On the other hand, Mosta had Njongo Priso back in the side after his suspension. But centre back Djoufack was missing from the squad yesterday.
The match, in which referee Pace showed 12 yellow cards (and one red card), had a quiet start as both sides sized each other up, but Sliema enjoyed a little more possession.
Despite their slight superiority, Sliema never looked really dangerous and Mosta took the opportunity to strike first after a swift counterattack.
The relegation-haunted club now started playing much better with Onwudinjo and Priso constituting themselves as a thorn in the Sliema defence.
But the Wanderers managed to get back on level terms late in the first half through an Alex Muscat penalty.
It was a fair result at the end of the first half.
Mosta played even more cautiously in the second half, especially after they scored what proved to be the winning goal.
Sliema then started an assault on the Mosta goal which, however, proved to be ineffective as Mosta defended stubbornly all the way till the final whistle.
In the 8th minute, Mosta goalie Cini had to turn to corner a dangerous Spiteri cross-shot.
In the 16th minute, Mosta took the lead. In a swift counter-attack, a Priso shot hit Mintoff’s feet but goalie Zammit managed to send the ball sideways. However, there was Onwudinjo who crossed low for Njongo Priso to hit home from close in.
Three minutes later, Mosta again threatened through Onwudinjo who had a shot going not far away from the target.
Sliema responded in the 27th minute. From a Dos Santos cornerkick, Temile headed well over the bar from a good position.
In the 33rd minute, Mosta had a Magro low shot going wide of the far upright.
In the 38th minute, Sliema were awarded a penalty when goalie Yenz Cini upended JP Farrugia as the latter was through in the area. From the resultant spotkick, Alex Muscat made no mistake to equalise for the Blues.
Just before the interval whistle, from a Spiteri cornerkick, a Temile header seemed destined for the back of the net, but Onwudinjo, standing on the goal-line, managed to clear the ball away.
Mosta were again in the lead in the 52nd minute. From a throw-in, substitute Zachary Brincat advanced on the right flank to beat goalie Glenn Zammit from the angle.
In the 62nd minute, Priso set Onwudinjo in the Sliema area, but Zammit saved the latter’s shot. Moments later, Brincat again had a good effort from the edge of the area, but the ball went wide.
At the other end, it was goalie Cini who thwarted Sliema saving a close range effort from JP Farrugia.
Sliema again tried on 77 minutes. From a Wisdom cornerkick, Temile anticipated goalie Cini, but his header went well over the bar.
In added time, Sliema missed a good chance to equalise when from a Temile cross, JP Farrugia headed wide from an ideal position.
Valletta 1
St Andrews 1
Valletta: D. Bartkus, J. Caruana, S. Borg, R. Camilleri (R. Fenech), S. Malano, T. Radzinevicius (L. Montebello), C. Pani, U. Calistus, L. Aguirre, R. Muscat, R. Romao.
St Andrews: J. Galea, E. Pena Beltre, M. Johnson, BW Che, K. Kesinovic, D. Camilleri, J. Farrugia, I. Paz (A. Friggieri), F. Udoh, Z. Kastrevec (N. Belacevic), K. Nwoko (G. McKay).
Referee: E. Mangion.
Asst refs: A. Camilleri, C. Francalanza.
4th official: M. Apap.
Scorers: T. Radzinevicius, Z. Kastrevec,
Yellow cards: J. Farrugia, M. Johnson,
Player of the match: Z. Kastrevec.
TMI Top 3: 1. C. Pani, 2. Z. Kastrevec, 3. R. Muscat.
Attendance: 674
Henry Brincat
St Andrews stunned the much more fancied Valletta a second time this season as they held them to a one-all draw in yesterday’s second match at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.
In the first round match, Valletta had been held to a goalless draw by the Saints.
Valletta took the lead in the 33rd minute through Radzinevicius, but the Saints equalised early in the second half through Kasatrevec.
The draw meant that Valletta missed out on two precious points in their quest to retain the title they won last season.
The result was even more disappointing for the Citizens after league leaders Balzan were also held to a 2-2 draw by Tarxien yesterday.
In the first half, Valletta showed complete superiority over their opponents, but they had little to show until the 33rd minute when they eventually found the net to take a merited lead.
After the goal, Valletta seemed to be playing with more tranquillity as the match now looked like a one-way traffic affair.
The Saints only seemed to be interested in trying to keep Valletta’s strikers out of their area in an effort to keep the scoreline as low as possible.
In fact, they rarely advanced past the middle line as Valletta maintained their domination with goalie Bartkus never being seriously tested.
But in the second half, it was a completely different situation as the Saints moved forward more frequently, even managing an equaliser.
After that, it was a Valletta assault on the Saints fort, but clear chances of goal were few and far between as the Saints were well organised in their ‘fortress’, inspired by the safe handling of goalie Jake Galea, although he was never seriously tested.
Valletta took the initiative right from the start and in the 11th minute, from a Steve Borg cross, it was Tomas Radzinevicius who headed over the bar from five metres.
St Andrews offered only a weak reply through a Paz freekick which went wide, posing absolutely no threat to City goalie Bartkus.
Soon after City’s Radzinevicius advanced from midpitch, only for his final pass to go astray.
Valletta continued to push forward in search of goal but a Claudio Pani effort from 20 metres went well over the bar.
The Citizens finally broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute. It was Pani who set Radzinevicius; the latter controlled the ball on the edge of the area and then fired home past Galea to the delight of the few City fans present at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.
Soon afterwards, Galea had to dive to stop a Rowen Muscat low shot but till the end of the interval, there were no other notable actions.
In the 55th minute, quite surprisingly, St Andrews equalised when from a Paz cross, goalkeeper Bartkus was anticipated by Ziga Kastrevec who headed the ball into an empty net.
Three minutes later, it was Paz who tested Bartkus with a grounder, but the City goalie was not surprised.
In the 69th minute, Valletta had a good chance to score but Malano miskicked the ball which went wide.
In the 75th minute, Valletta risked heavily when Kastrevec lobbed over the advancing Bartkus, but Steve Borg cleared to corner.
In the 83rd minute, it was Malano who tested goalie Galea with an overhead kick and in added time, the same City player saw his freekick going well over the bar.
The end soon came with Valletta remaining third on 37 points, five behind leaders Balzan and three behind second placed Hibernians, who can go top with a victory against Birkirkara this afternoon. St Andrew’s remain ninth on 22 points.