Lija A. 3

Melita 2

Lija Athletics had a promising start in the Knock Out competition beating Melita 3-1 in the opening match of the competition.

The newly promoted side fully deserved their victory as they dominated the match for long stretches. Melita were far from last season’s best form, and only showed flashes of some good football late in the game. But it was too little too late for Martin Gregory’s boys.

Lija dominated the first half as they built a more than deserved two-goal lead. Lija could have scored after a couple of minutes, but Scicluna’s shot from a freekick sailed over the bar.

On five minutes Lija forged ahead when Ayrton Buhagiar’s cross was met by striker Antoine Sacco who beautifully lobbed the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper. Lija continued to dictate matters but Melita defended well.

Melita started to play better but were never dangerous in front of goal apart from a Luke Micallef dipper that missed the crossbar.

Five minutes from the break Lija doubled the score when an Antoine Sacco cross from the right was nodded down by Ayrton Buhagiar towards Milos Jovanovic who tapped the ball home from close range.

On the resumption Lija increased their tally when newcomer Beppe Antignolo crossed towards Antoine Sacco who dribbled past a defender before crossing towards the onrushing Buhagiar who easily beat Sapiano. Melita could have pulled one back on 64 minutes but Kane Micallef’s dipper was brilliantly saved by Luke Bonnici.

Melita kept pressing forward and were rewarded on 73 minutes when Julian Galea’s shot was blocked on the goal line and Jonathan Mifsud hammered home from the rebound.

Three minutes from time Melita had another good scoring chance with substitute Terpougoff creating havoc in the Lija defence and Nicolo Baldacchino blasting over the bar.

However in stoppage Melita scored a second goal through Nicolo Baldacchino who was served by Julian Galea.

Msida no match for strong Mosta side

Msida SJ 0

Mosta 4

In the second match of the competition, Mosta easily disposed of Msida SJ scoring four goals in the process. Mosta’s victory was never in doubt as the Blues dominated from start to finish against an inexperienced Msida side.

Msida, relegated from the Premier division, will surely find the going hard this season even in this division. On the other hand, Mosta, considered by many as one of the favourites for a promotion berth, left a very good impression.

Mosta took the lead on 18 minutes when Adrian Borg scored from close range following a Mark Briggs corner kick. Mosta doubled the score some minutes later when Adrian Borg scored again from another corner taken by Mark Briggs.

The same Borg missed an easy chance minutes later but it was new signing William Camenzuli who scored the third goal when he fired home from yet another Mark Briggs corner.

On the resumption Mosta continued to weave their attacks and scored a fourth on the 50th minute, when another corner, this time taken by William Camenzuli, created havoc in the Msiad defence, with Karl Grech putting in his own net in an attempt to clear.

Mosta could have added to their tally but were unlucky on 73 minutes when Shaun Farrugia hit the post.