Brazilian Jonatan Luiz Ruiz had a dream debut for St Georges yesterday as he led his side to a comfortable and deserved victory over Dingli to go on top of the standings with maximum points.

The Brazilian immediately left his mark, as he gave the Saints’ attack new lease of life with his neat touches and impressive dribbling, apart from scoring the second goal and winning the penalty of the third goal scored by Glenn Bonello.

The overall performance of the pioneers of local soccer was a very good one and their victory was a deserved one.

For Dingli Swallows this was the first defeat of the season. Took by surprise by the Saints’ early fury, the Swallows never settled in the match as the Saints were simply superior yesterday

St Georges started like a house on fire with newly signed Ruiz in the thick of the action. The Brazilian created havoc in the Dingli defence inside the first minute but was foiled by a Briffa timely intervention.

On the third minute Gary Inguanez passed towards Glenn Bonello whose well taken shot from an acute angle was blocked in style by goalkeeper Farrugia.

The Saints kept pushing forward as Dingli lost Kevin Borg after only seven minutes with Ryan Sammut taking his place. On 15 minutes Ruiz passed towards Glenn Bonello who blasted well over the bar.

Dingli started to get more in the game but on 27 minutes the Saints took a deserved lead. Ruiz started the action in midfield and passed towards Gary Inguanez whose cross from the right was met by Dylan Zarb who planted the ball at the back of the net.

Dingli made a quick reply with a good shot on the turn by Briffa missing the upright. Dingli held territorial superiority in the last part but St Georges were very menacing in their fast breaks, as the Dingli back four were constantly caught on the wrong foot, with Ruiz, Bonello and Zarb a real headache for the Redblues.

The second period was less intense. The Saints opted to defend their slender lead and hit back with their fast breaks. Dingli held the initiative for long stretches, but were rarely dangerous and goalkeeper Galea had a quiet afternoon.

On 71 minutes the Saints killed off Dingli’s residual hopes of saving the match, when Bonello passed towards Ruiz, and the Brazilian raced forward to beat Farrugia with an angled shot.

St Georges were now in the driving seat and added a third five minutes from time when the irresistible Ruiz was floored by Zampa and from the penalty spot Glenn Bonello made no mistake.

St. George’s T. Galea, A. Bonello, E. Sevasta, G. Bonello (J. Dalli), L. Stivala, D. Zarb, B. Fenech, G. Inguanez, N. Caruana, E. Amaira (M. Barbara), J.L. Ruiz (L. Bonnet).

Dingli S J. Farrugia, S. Zampa, S. Tellus, R. Spiteri, R. Vella, C. Ciappara (C. Caruana), K. Formosa, K. Borg (R. Sammut), R. Briffa, C. Azzopardi, J. Chirino.

Referee Mario Apap

Lija A 0

Mosta 4

There was no stopping Mosta yesterday. They were simply irresistible at times. After 30 minutes of nonsense football, the Blues forged ahead through a Kane Farrugia penalty, and this was the spark that lit their five star performance.

The score could have been of bigger proportions had Mosta not missed some easy scoring chances, apart from Daniel Scerri’s heroics, who cleared three balls from the goal line.

Lija were a total disappointment yesterday as they had no answer to their opponents superior technical skills. Timothy Fleri Soler committed the two penalties and was rightly sent off by the referee.

Mosta had a great chance after two minutes play when Kane Farrugia’s strike from a corner action was cleared off the line by defender Daniel Scerri.

This was however the only shot at gal in the first half an hour of the match which was a real bore to watch. Both sides packed the midfield sector, and the defences had full superiority over the attackers which were left alone to fight a desperate cause.

But on 32 minutes Mosta broke the deadlock. Mark Briggs floated a long freekick inside the Lija penalty area, the ball was headed by Adrian Borg, and Lija defender Matthew Fleri Soler handled the ball for an obvious penalty. From the penalty spot Kane Farrugia made no mistake to put the Blues in front.

Mosta were now a transformed side as Lija were pushed inside their own half. A Mark Briggs corner was met by Lee Grima whose header was saved by Bonnici. On 38 minutes William Camenzuli fired over the bar after a powerful run, and three minutes before the break Lija goalkeeper Luke Bonnici made the best save of the first half when he denied William Camenzuli who was served by Simon Shead.

Mosta were finding space in attack even in the second half and Bonnici was again on the alert to save a Lee Grima header. But from the resultant corner Bonnici could do nothing to stop Simon Shead from tapping the ball in from close range.

Mosta were now on velvet and they scored a third on 66 minutes. Gilbert Martin was simply unstoppable and Matthew Fleri Soler could only foul him inside the box. Fleri Soler was sent off and Kane Farrugia converted in style the second penalty of the match.

Mosta were now all over the place and Lee Grima saw his effort cleared off the line by Daniel Scerri.

On 81 minutes Simon Shead did the impossible when he blasted over the bar with an open goal at his mercy, but there was more to come. Gilbert Martin raced forward once again dribbled past goalkeeper Bonnici before serving Simon Shead whose shot found yet again Daniel Scerri on the goal line.

In stoppage time Mosta added the fourth and final goal when Simon Shead scored following a William Camenzuli corner.

Lija A L. Bonnici, A. Saliba, D. Scerri, A. Sacco, M. Potezica, K. Darmanin, A. Scicluna, A. Dzanovic (A. Buhagiar), B. Antignolo (W. Borg St. John), D. Caruana (M. Camilleri), M. Fleri Soler.

Mosta J. Debono, A. Borg (A. Cini), K. Farrugia (P. Vassallo), M. Brincat, K. Spiteri, W. Camenzuli, N. Bogdanovic (R. Deguara), M. Briggs, L. Grima, S. Shead, G. Martin.

Referee Paul Apap