Rabat A 1

Birzebbuga SP 1

Rabat came out strongly and after just three minutes a free-kick taken by defender Yessous Camilleri was saved with difficulty by the Birzebbuga keeper. Then a cross by David Azzopardi was hit just high by Adam Smeir and on another occasion Justin Felice headed just over the bar from close-range. At the other end Birzebbuga wasted a clear goal scoring opportunity through Carlos Camenzuli after the Rabat keeper had saved partially off an attempt by Ronnie Celeste. Then David Azzopardi twice went close for the Ajax with Birzebbuga coming back through Emil Raducu whose low angled shot finished just wide off the far post. A minute before the break Birzebbuga won a free-kick which was taken by Emil Raducu as the ball went just high over the crossbar.

After the break the match continued to be an exciting affair with both teams doing their best to win the three points. In the 47th minute the Rabat keeper came out of his goal to anticipate Carlos Camenzuli and two minutes later Rabat responded through Adam Smeir whose free-kick just missed the target. The Saints then had a shot by Camenzuli which was blocked by Josef Tonna and on another occasion Ronnie Celeste hit wide when set free by Paul Camilleri. On 66 minutes Rabat took the lead as a square pass by Adam Smeir was finished off by their foreign player Basil Onuta who was making his debut for the Magpies. Then the Birzebbuga keeper denied Rabat a second goal off an attempt by Justin Felice but it was the Saints who managed to equalize in the 71st minute as the Rabat keeper was completely surprised and beaten off a long-range free-kick taken by Anton Florin. Shortly afterwards Birzebbuga’s substitute Noel Tabone hit high over the bar from the edge of the penalty area and in the 85th minute Rabat were denied by Mansueto off William Borg’s in swinging corner-kick. Then a shot by Joseph Caruana was blocked by a Birzebbuga defender. At the end of it all, the final result was quite fair with both sides remaining in the promotion tussle.

Referee Paul Apap.

Mgarr U 1

Mellieha SC 2

The first-half was well fought out in the midfield sector with Mgarr creating the first goal scoring opportunity through Ismael Cutajar. Mellieha were then denied by Claude Carbonaro off a Philip Camilleri free-kick but they managed to break the deadlock on 29 minutes with Alex Portelli crossing from the left flank and Daniel Cremona was on hand to head the ball home past Carbonaro to give Mellieha a 1-0 lead. Then Mgarr were very close through Chris Abela whose close-range shot was smothered by Gauci with Mellieha replying through a crosshot by Daniel Cremona which finished just wide off the far post. In the 39th minute Fabiano Bassi scored a second goal for Mellieha with a cute lob over Carbonaro but in the 44th minute Mgarr came back into the match when they reduced the gap through a penalty given for a foul by Alex Portelli on James org with Chris Abela making no mistake from the spot. In added time Mgarr were unlucky as Mellieha’s defender Matthew Vella headed the ball onto his own crossbar, almost committing an own-goal.

After the resumption Mgarr did all the attacking with Mellieha having to defend for long stretches. Early on Mgarr went close through Chris Sant but in the 55th minute Mellieha were denied by Carbonaro off a shot by Nikolai Filipov. Mgarr replied through Vojko Martinoic whose angled shot ended just wide with Mellieha squandering a clear goal scoring opportunity as Daniel Cremona shot wide from in front of goal. In the 72nd minute Mgarr were again denied by Simon Gauci off a shot by substitute Matthew Muscat and in the 88th minute a shot by Vojko Martinovic finished just high over the bar. In the 90th minute Mellieha were denied by Carbonaro off a point-blank shot by Connor Muchmore. Mellieha are now sole leaders with Mgarr remaining bottom of the league standings.

Referee Philip Farrugia.