St Andrews 3
Pieta H. 3
St Andrews: M. Calleja Cremona, A. Satariano, R. Martin, A. Friggieri (D. Jackson 74), K. Reid (J. Walker 87), J. Farrugia (M. Woo Ling 75), K. Magro, A. Borg, A. Brown, M. Davis, T. Blagrove
Pieta H.: N. Vella, T. Ose, C. Degabriele, N. Pace Cocks, D. Agius, J. Busuttil (N. Pisani 90), G. Mensah, C. Grech, S. Nakamura (J. Scicluna 83), I. Jalo (RJ Artiaga 79), A. Macedo
Referee: A. Mario Sant
Asst refs: A. Camilleri, D. Petrovic
4th official: A. Johnson
Scorers: A. Macedo og 9, K. Reid 12, D. Agius 17 pen., 62 pen., M. Davis 51, G. Mensah 64
Yellow cards: A. Macedo 29, A. Brown 42, M. Calleja Cremona 64, T. Blagrove 71, M. Woo Ling 75
Player of the match: M. Davis
TMI Top 3: 1. J. Busuttil, 2. M. Davis, 3. G. Mensah
St Andrews and Pieta Hotspurs shared the spoils in a six-goal thriller which had the small crowd present on tenterhooks till the very end.
The match, played on a slippery surface, proved to be one of the most entertaining so far this season. In fact, apart from some good football on display, six goals were scored, two of which arriving from the three penalties awarded - two for Pieta (both scored) and another which St Andrews failed to score.
St Andrews remain in 8th place on 13 points, while Pieta move up one place to 10th on 10 points ahead of today's matches.
The Saints enjoyed slight superiority in the first half, also creating the best scoring opportunities apart from scoring two early goals.
On their part, Pieta did not stare at their opponents, and after a shaky start they fought their way back into contention with a Dylan Agius penalty goal.
The match followed the same pattern in the second half but it became even more interesting as Pieta hit back strongly after suffering a third goal to level matters with two quick goals.
It was a fair result at the end as neither team deserved to go home empty handed.
St Andrews had a bright start as they took the lead on 9 minutes when off a Davis cross, Antonio Macedo had the misfortune of deviating the ball into his own net.
The Saints doubled the score on 12 minutes when after a fine run by Brown, a Farrugia shot was blocked by Grech, the ball rebounded to him and passed it to Kemar Reid who made no mistake with a low shot.
Pieta were awarded a penalty on 18 minutes when Kurt Magro was adjudged to have handled a Mensah pass to Ose. Mr Sant, close to the action, showed no hesitation in pointing to the dreaded spot. Dylan Agius sent the goalie the wrong way to bridge the gap.
Soon after the Saints went close to scoring a third goal when Reid set Davis, but the latter's diagonal effort passed across goal with Vella beaten.
In the 25th minute, the very promising Jan Busuttil neatly dribbled round his direct opponent, but saw his grounder saved by Calleja Cremona.
Four minutes later, the Saints missed a good opportunity to re-establish their two-goal cushion. Macedo handled a Davis shot (with goalie Vella well out of position). A penalty was obviously awarded to the Saints, but Reid saw his shot splendidly turned to corner by Pieta goalie Vella.
St Andrews re-established their two-goal cushion in the 51st minute when Brown made the most of a defensive lapse by Agius and crossed low for the unmarked Davis to tap into the net.
In the 59th minute, Pieta again reduced the arrears through Gabriel Mensah who fired home a 20-metre effort which completely beat Calleja Cremona.
Five minutes later, in a Pieta counterattack, goalie Calleja Cremona was adjudged by the official to have floored Gabriel Mensah and awarded another penalty. From the spotkick, Dylan Agius scored to level at 3-3.
Mensah missed a sitter for Pieta four minutes from the end when off a Busuttil cross, he miskicked the ball in front of an open goal.