St.Andrews-Mellieha 1-2

Mellieha were made to fight hard to obtain the three points with the Saints suffering their fifth defeat from as many matches to stay bottom of the league table.

After just two minutes Mellieha were close through Wayne Buttigieg who hit just wide from a good position. However they broke the deadlock four minutes later through a low shot by Wayne Borg St.John with the Saints coming back through a dangerous Adrian Galea effort.

Gradually Mellieha took hold of the midfield sector and the Saints’ goalkeeper Tabone had to bring off difficult saves to foil Wayne Borg St.John and Rueben Vella.

In the 38th minute Borg St. John dribbled past several Saints’ defenders and passed for Rueben Vella whose attempt was well saved by Tabone.

In the 45th minute St.Andrews were back on level terms with Jeremy Gatt Coleiro crossing for Nicky Micallef to drive home from close-range.

In the 55th minute Mellieha were back in front through an unfortunate own-goal by Saints’ defender Joseph Sant Fournier with the Saints gradually exerting sustained pressure on the Mellieha goal but they were rather ineffective up front.

Mellieha went close through a Borg St. John free-kick which just missed the target and in injury time Saints’ keeper Tabone brought off a fine save to deny Terence Borg.

Referee: Glen Tonna.

Rabat Ajax-Dingli S. 1-1

This result should satisfy both teams in a derby match which was balanced throughout the 90 minutes.

Dingli have maintained the top position with ten points from five matches. Four minutes into the match Rabat’s custodian Azzopardi brought off a fine save to stop a Jeffrey Zammit free-kick with Rabat’s response producing a dangerous effort by Kayne Said.

Gradually Dingli dictated the run of play and went close on various occasions but it was Rabat who broke the deadlock in the 26th minute through an Adam Smeir free-kick which beat Mark Abela all ends up.

Four minutes later a strong shot by Sapiano was blocked by a Rabat defender and in the 32nd minute Jason Cachia headed just wide.

On 41minutes Azzopardi brought off an excellent save off a Victor Fiteni strong shot but from the resultant corner-kick taken by Jeffrey Zammit the Rabat keeper was beaten for Dingli’s merited equaliser.

After the change of ends the match continued to be balanced with Dingli creating their best efforts through Jeffrey Zammit.

Rabat were denied by Dingli’s keeper Mark Abela off attempts by Smeir and Vassallo and in the 82nd minute they managed to score through Joseph Caruana but the Dingli keeper was fouled and the goal was rightly disallowed.

Referee: Duncan Sultana