Mosta had to wait till the final twelve minutes of the match to score four goals and beat bottom of the table Msida. It was an exciting match after a disappointing first half. But Msida’s first goal this season just before the break was the injection Mosta needed.
In the second half Mosta mad an impressive onslaught on the Msida defence, and finally the Blues reaped the desired fruit with four goals and three points to return to winning ways.
The Blues sorely missed the services of striker Gilbert Martin, whilst Lee Grima was left as a substitute. Msida who were without the suspended Adrian Farrugia, played a very cautious game leaving the initiative to their opponents.
But Mosta were not at their best yesterday, and this could be seen from the very first minutes with the Blues very erratic and never finding space in the Msida defence.
Their first attempt came on 26 minutes with a William Camenzuli scorcher blocked by Alden. Two minutes later a Kenneth Spiteri close range shot was again saved by Alden, and on the other end Msida appealed for a penalty when Brincat apparently handled the ball inside the area.
On 37 minutes a Lyden Micallef header sailed over the bar, and Mosta were unlucky on 41 minutes when a Mark Briggs freekick slammed against the crossbar. But the unexpected happened on 43 minutes when Msida took the lead. Curtis did the running before passing towards Phiram Sakchai who Debono from the edge of the area for Msida’s first goal this season after four Knock Out matches and three league ones.
On the resumption Mosta started like a house on fire with Adrian Borg missing a sitter in front of goal, and on 50 minutes a William Camenzuli cross shot hit the crossbar with Simon Shead failing to score with an open goal at his mercy. Msida goalkeeper Alden stretched to brilliantly saved a Lyden Micallef dipper, and from the resulting corner, Simon Shead’s header hit the upright.
Minutes later Mosta were again unlucky when Msida defender Matthew Borg miskicked the ball in an attempt to clear with the ball finishing against the base of the upright. Mosta were anything but lucky in the second half as a Shead header was cleared off the line by Msida’s Lyden Micallef.
Twelve minutes from time Mosta obtained the equalizer when Adrian Borg headed home a Camenzuli corner. Mosta continued to search for a winner and a Shead shot missed the upright by a whisker, and substitute Lee Grima should have done better from a Camenzuli cross.
But the Mosta midfielder made amends six minutes from time when he scored with a grounder from an acute angle. Two minutes later Mosta sealed the issue with a third goal when Bogdanovic headed in another Camenzuli corner.
In stoppage time William Camenzuli, surely the best player on the field of play was rewarded when he scored the fourth and final goal after another impressive run
Msida SJ J. Alden, L. Micallef, N. Curmi, M. Borda, J. D’Amato, P. Sakchai, R. Caruana, C. Cioffi (L. Cassar), M. Curtis (A. Formosa), O.G. Enyi (D. Debono), R. Xuereb.
Mosta J. Debono, A. Borg (A. Cini), N. Bogdanovic, K. Farrugia, M. Brincat, K. Spiteri, W. Camenzuli, M. Briggs, R. Deguara (L. Grima), L. Micallef, S. Shead (B. Agius).
Referee Sammy Attard