Naxxar L 1

St George’s 3

St George’s obtained a very important win against Naxxar in a direct calsh in the low part of the table. The Saints were worthy winners in this match played in constant rain. Hero of the match was surely Keith Darmanin who scored all three goals for his side, the first from the penalty spot.

Apart from the goals scored Darmanin was surely the best player on the field of play. The Saints were simply the better team and Naxxar are now in deep relegation trouble. They had good start but did not manage to keep up the momento with their opponents.

Naxxar had the better ideas in the first half with Bellia their maestro in midfield. The Saints defended in these stages in an organised manner and were always alert to hit back in fast breaks. Bellia passed to Ani who gave to the onrushing Clifford Mifsud who was blocked in time by Grech. The same Bellia shot from the edge of the area with goalkeeper Gatt saving in two attempts.

After this attempt however, St George’s started to play the better football, with Ewurun and Thomas always menacing. Keith Darmanin surely their most polished player, started to dictate matters in midfield, even scoring two goals in the space of twelve minutes.

On 27 minutes Ewurun, put through by Grech, dribbled past goalkeeper Cini but was brought down by the same goalkeeper and Keith Darmanin made no mistake from the resultant penalty. The Saints were now in full command and went very close with a Bonello shot that beat the goalkeeper but was cleared off the line by Zuccaro.

However on 39 minutes St George’s doubled the score when Keith Darmanin won a good ball on the edge of the area and shot low in the corner of the net deceiving completely goalkeeper Cini.

The second half was completely dominated by the adverse weather conditions, with the constant rain making it hard on the players to give their best. The Saints controlled their opponents’ feeble reaction and scored the third goal to put the issue beyond doubt with fifteen minutes to go. Naxxar’s only chance came midway through the second with Jeremy Ani making his way on the left, but his cross found no Naxxar player to finish off the move.

The third and final goal was scored on 75 minutes when Thomas broke on the right and crossed to Ewurun who managed to pass back to Keith Darmanin who shot home with the ball hitting the crossbar before finishing at the back of the net. Naxxar scored their consolation goal in stoppage time when top scorer Jeremy Ani finished off in style a good run on the right flank.