Naxxar L-Qrendi 2-1
Naxxar L: O. Borg, R. Mercieca (C. Bugeja 46’), M. Fenech, M. Mifsud, F. Edson Cerqueira, J. Debono, R. Cassar, J. Ellul, S. Nanapere, B. Essel, S. Meilak.
Qrendi: J. Farrugia, D. Micallef (R. Dalli 46’), M. Farrugia, B. Bondin, C. Caruana, L. Brincat, Z. Bowman, D. Martini, J. Spiteri, C. Quaranta, J. da Silva Silveira.
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic
Scorers: Jonatan Silveira Da Silkva 4’ (Q), Edson Cerqueira Farias 67’ (N), Joel Ellul 89’ (N)
Naxxar Lions staged a late rally to turn the tide in their favour and beat Qrendi by the odd goal in three, to join Zejtun in fourth place in the standings.
For the Lions it was a return to victory after losing against Lija in their last outing. Steve D’Amato’s side deserved the win as they had the lions’ share of exchanges, even hitting the post in the first half.
Qrendi had a good start taking a fourth minute lead with a Da Silva grounder, with Naxxar jitting the crossbar through Nanapere at the orther end.
After a slow start in the second half Naxxar obtained the equaliser half way through with a great Farias strike from the edge of the area, and were rewarded just before the final whistle when Ellul’s header finished at the back of the net.
Mqabba-Swieqi U 0-2
Mqabba: F. Tabone, L. Farrugia (N. Micallef 73’), R. Da Silva Gomes, D. Micallef, J.C. Martins, A. Ferreira Dos Santos, B. Grech (G. Micallef 63’), W. Borg, C. Vella, D. Azzopardi (C. Cutajar 84’), F. Gusman.
Swieqi U: J.C. Debattista, J. Cassar, K. Sultana (M. Attard 28’), I.A. Margarit, M. Vella, V. Olowoyo Kayode, S. Ibrahim, M. Farrugia, L. Scicluna, N. Schembri (S. Grech 73’), D. Borg (G. Bugeja 60’).
Referee: Ezekiel Barbara
Scorers: Salis Ibrahim 15’, 88’
For the sixth consecutive game Mqabba’s goal drought continued as they suffered yet another defeat against Swieqi and are now deep in relegation trouble. To be fair Mqabba were rather unlucky yesterday and deserved at least a point from this game.
Salis Ibrahim scored a very good goal on fifteen minutes, dribbling past two Mqabba defenders before planting the ball at the back of the net past a helpless Tabone. Mqabba had a very good reaction pushing their opponents inside their area, but Mqabba lacked the necessary punch and had no clear cut chances.
On 35 minutes Swieqi missed agolden opportunity when Ion Alin Margarit failed to beat Tabone form the penalty spot. The maximum penalty was awarded for a foul on Salis Ibrahim who was floored by Francesco Gusman.
In the second half Mqabba seiged their opponents missing several scoring opportunites in front of goal, and were made to pay two minutes from time when Salis Ibrahim sealed the issue with a second goal after an impressive run.
In stoppage time Mqabba even hit the post and also missed a penalty.
Pembroke A-Vittoriosa S 0-0
Pembroke A: P. Schranz, K. Borg, G. Azzopardi, Z. Grech, T. Fenech, D. Cachia (G. Muscat 71’), M.A. Borg, J.P. Oliveira Santos (M. Da Rosa Wilmsen 76’), E. Vallecillo Casado (I. Misan 71’), Y. Tonna, G. Claudio Da Silva.
Vittoriosa S: C. Cassar, I. Abela, I. Curmi, J. Ogunnupe, A. Cilia Mumford (M. Scicluna 77’), D. Zampa (C. Spiteri 46’), P. Papadakis, N. Ojuola, D. Tabone, L. Casha, T. Abela Wilson (K. Degiorgio 64’).
Referee: Daniel Casha
Mqabba and Vittoriosa settled for a draw yesterday in a very low profile match, with very few scoring chances at both ends. The match was boring at times, even though both sides tried their best to take home the three points, but to be fair no one deserved three points yesterday.
Vittoriosa goalkeeper Cassar made a couple of saves in the first half on shots from Vallecillo Casado and Kurt Borg. Just before the break the Stars went close with a shot on the turn by Iro Curmi just missing the upright.
Vittoriosa’s best chance in the second half came on 67 minutes when Luca Casha’s dipper was brilliantly saved by Philip Schranz. In the dying stages Pembroke were more menacing with substitute Da Rosa Wilmsen creating some trouble to the Vitttoriosa defence, but the score remained unchanged.