St Andrew’s 1

Pieta H. 0

Ten-man Pieta suffered their first defeat of the season when they were beaten by St Andrew’s with a Faisal Alkanua first half goal in an ill-tempered match.

In fact the match was very tense, especially in the second half after the sending off of Terence Agius. Pieta were not at their best, even though they deserved at least a point for their efforts.

For St Andrew’s this was a very important win which lifts them to safer waters in the middle of the table.

Pieta were the better team in the opening stages, even though they never really tested the Saints’ goalkeeper Daniel Balzan. Pieta had long distance shots from Refalo and Pereira Dos Santos slightly missing the target.

On 30 minutes Agius won a loose ball on the edge of the area, but his shot sailed over the bar. On 38 minutes St Andrew’s took a surprise lead when Faisal Alkanua ran for a long ball from defence, and with the Pieta rearguard caught on the wrong foot, he anticipated goalkeeper Montfort before firing home two metres.

Pieta suffered the blow as St Andrew’s dominated the last minutes of the first half. Vella Petroni’s shot missed the base of the upright by a whisker and Aldinho opted to shoot from the edge of the area when he had two team mates completely unmarked on his left.

In the second half Pieta tried to get back in the match but the Saints defended well. The match was very ill tempered with some nasty tackles going unnoticed by the referee. Pieta received a setback on 62 minutes when Terence Agius was sent off for dissent. Pieta still continued to push everything forward and Refalo’s shot went inches wide. On 66 minutes Pereira Dos Santos’ cross found Jurgen Pisani completely unmarked but the Pieta striker failed to head home from close range.

St Andrew’s keeper Balzan effected a great save on 70 minutes when he tipped from under the crossbar a Pereira Dos Santos header. The Saints were dangerous in their break with Aldinho a constant threat to the Pieta defence.

Four minutes from time Pieta were rather unlucky when Pereira Dos Santos’ shot beat goalkeeper Balzan, but defender Chetcuti dashed to save a certain goal from the goal line.

St Andrew’s: D. Balzan, N. Chetcuti, B. Diacono, J. Bugeja, B. Said, A. Nakuaa (M. Ellul), J. Briscoe White, A. Camilleri Kamsky, N. Vella Petroni (M. Grima), F. Alkanua, V. Aldinho Goncalves (K. Galea).

Pieta H: M. Montfort, C. Spiteri, E. Giaccaglia, Q. Refalo, T. Agius, Z. Muscat, V. Pereira Dos Santos, L. Mallia (A. Farrugia), C. Cassar, J. Zarate, J. Pisani (M. Schembri).

Referee: Sandro Spiteri