Pembroke A 0

St Lucia 1

Pembroke fell prey for the first time in the season as they lost to St Lucia 1-0.

Surely Pembroke weren’t in their normal form as St Lucia played a good game where they didn’t let them play to their normal rhythm. This win was very important for St Lucia as now they still have a small chance of promotion.

The first half was balanced where possession dominated that the actions towards the posts were few where the first real action came on the 17th minute when Marlon Farrugia’s shot finished a bit wide.

Pembroke had their best chance in the stoppage time of the first half when a shot from Daniel Cremona finished a bit wide after a personal action.

Pembroke tried to gain the lead when they made two substitutions and on the 64th minute it was Duane Carabott who turned into a corner a shot from Matthew Borg after a personal action.

St Lucia opened the score on the 72nd minute when Nico Corito beat Calleja Cremona with a beautiful shot from outside the box. St Lucia had a chance to add another on the 84th minute when a good personal action by Marlon Farrugia finished with a shot but that finished high.

Pembroke: M. Calleja Cremona, N. Coleiro Gatt, D. Mifsud, A. Galea (L. Grech), L. Cilia, V. Martinovic, M. Borg, J. Mifsud, D. Cremona (C. Leonardi), R. Caruana, G. Spiteri (T. Naudi)

St Lucia: D. Carabott, C. Camilleri, M. Agius, J. Galea, C. Bugeja, J. Bugeja, M. Farrugia (J. Micallef), H. Friggieri, N. Corito (J. Vella), A. Sapiano, G. D’Amato (M. Spiteri)

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi

Marsascala 0

Ghaxaq 0

Marsascala and Ghaxaq shared a point each after the match between them finished in a goalless draw.

This game was very boring with very few actions towards the post with the only actions coming in the last 25 minutes of the game with both teams having open scoring chances.

Ghaxaq missed a good chance to continue to fight for promotion as now they six points adrift of Fgura United.

The first half was very mediocre and there wasn’t any action to the posts where the actions that there was weren’t near to the posts.

The best action of the game surely came on the 72nd minute when Mark Said passed to Christopher Zammit who advanced to the small box but his poor shot was saved by Verbina.

On the 81st minute Ghaxaq had the chance to win the game when Matthew Axiaq passed to Marvin Grech who unmarked shot wide.

The same Grech had a chance two minutes later but his lob over Peplow finished over the bar.

Marsascala: J. Peplow, E. Desira (J. Debono), C. Bordieri, S. Callus, M. Pace (F. Peplow), J. Galdes, M. Said, D. Falzon (C. Schembri), A. Dominicus, C. Zammit, N. Abela

Ghaxaq: J. Verbina, E. Dimech, M. Vassallo, L. Alla, F. Schembri, J. Caruana, M. Grech, A. Farrugia, F. Galea, B. Parnis, A. Caruana (R. D’Amato)

Referee: Emmanuel Grech

Kalkara 2

Swieqi 6

Swieqi registered a very easy win over bottom-side Kalkara with the final score of 6-2, thus rising to a total of 27 points on the standings.

Kalkara’s highly disappointing season keeps getting worse, now having lost 18 matches in all, registering only four points from one win and a draw.

Kalkara were first to open the scoring 15 minutes into the match from a personal action by Jacob Camilleri. But Swieqi equalised on 23 minutes from a direct freekick by Simon Muscat which beat Bajada.

On 36 minutes Sciberras chipped precisely towards Fabien Debono who tapped the ball at the back of the net, putting Swieqi in the lead for the first time, and four minutes before the break Timothy Hampton scored a third with a low shot.

Two minutes into the second half, Nicholas Zammit beat Bajada with a looping header on a cross by McKean, and three minutes later Fabien Debono added his name to the list of scorers after a good run.

Eric Sciberras sealed the three points for Swieqi on 65 minutes with a powerful shot from an acute angle, and ten minutes later Justin Farrugia pulled one back for Kalkara with a low shot.

Kalkara: C. Bajada, J. Camilleri, S. Camilleri, C. Caruana (C. Bilocca), M. Cassar, D. Gauci, A. Musha, C. Tabone (J. Camilleri [J. Farrugia]), J. Zahra, C. Zammit, D. Zammit

Swieqi: J. Debattista, S. Zammit (S. Borg), C. Micallef (S. Diacono), B. Buhagiar, D. McKean, N. Zammit, T. Hampton, T. Kurtulush (P. Spiteri), F. Debono, E. Sciberras, M. Fenech

Referee: Matthew Degabriele

Marsa 0

Mgarr 1

Marsa’s hopes of lifting themselves in the standings are slowly fading, when they suffered their seventh consecutive defeat, this time at Mgarr’ hands, thus remaining in the penultimate place with nine points.

Mgarr kept the pace with the top five on the standings, now with a total of 37 points.

Mgarr went close to opening the score on 26 minutes, when after recieving from Deguara, Marmara failed to hit home from a central and ideal position.

The only goal of the match came after 35 minutes of play, with a splendid effort by Mark Deguara from a direct corner.

Marsa were close to equalising on 60 minutes, when after a poor showing by goalkeeper Borg, Brincat tried his luck towards the empty posts, yet his weak shot was saved in style by the same Borg from over the line, to remedy his earlier mistake.

Ten minutes from time, Marsa were awarded a penalty, when Chircop caught Marmara’s foot in the area, yet from the spot, Chris Tabone saw his effort blocked by substitute goalkeeper Danilov.

Marsa: D. Grima (S. Anilov), J Rizzo, B. Chircop, B. Zammit, J. P. Zammit, E. Vella, S. Cutajar, S. Sultana, K. Brincat (M. Scerri), Y. Abdullahi, D. Agius

Mgarr: J. Borg, K. Pace, J. Ebejer, P. Fenech, A. Aquilina, C. Tabone, K. Vella (J. Gauci), A. Zahra (Z. Vella), M. Deguara, R. Marmara, V. Petrovic

Referee: Pierre Azzopardi

Mdina 1

Sirens 1

Mdina failed to take home maximum points from their encounter with Sirens when they were held in a 1-1 draw, thus falling behind Fgura with 38 points, while Sirens now have 19 points.

Mdina opened the scoring just seven minutes into the match, when from a cross by Micallef, Matthew Francalanza hit home.

Sirens equalised a few seconds into the secnd half, when Ryan Sciberras fled the opposing defence and found the corner of the net with a powerful long-distance drive. 

Sirens missed a sitter 15 minutes from time, when from a cross by Gorg, Pisani’s effort was converted into a corner by goalkeeper Aquilina.

The last opportunity of the match came Mdina’s way when they were awarded a freekick outside the area for a foul by Borg at Gatt’s expense, yet from the distance Buhagiar saw hit shot hit the crossbar.

Mdina: M. Aquilina, A. Spiteri (M. Prudenzio), K. Formosa, G. Camilleri, A. Catania, A. Gatt, R. Southward, N. Micallef (J. Buhagiar), P. Grima (Y. Grech), A. Buhagiar, M. Francalanza

Sirens: N. Attard, A. Debattista, D. Sant, G. A. Neda, J. Grech, G. Vella, D. Pisani, R. Sciberras, S. Pisani, B. Borg, G. Falzon

Referee: Karl Frendo Cumbo

Mtarfa 1

Fgura 2

Fgura consolidated their place in the standings when they beat Mtarfa 2-1, thus going to a total of 44 points, just seven points behind leaders Pembroke, who suffered their first defeat of the season this weekend.

Fgura opened the scoring 15 minutes into the match, when after a good run by Bonnett who crossed central, Lydon Vella went past goalkeeper Sammut who had mistimed his outing, and tapped the ball home between the untenanted posts.

Gilbert Scerri doubled the lead for Fgura on 54 minutes, when he took goalkeeper Sammut by surprise with a splendid long-distance drive from an acute angle.

On 72 minutes, Mwema Munjaw tried his luck from the middle of the pitch with a chip, with goalkeeper Attard looking on astonished when the ball hit the upright. Mtarfa pulled one back two minutes later thanks to Doda Haruna’s first timer, yet this came too late for Mtarfa to fight their way in back into the game.

Mtarfa: K. Sammut, J. Fenech, R. Sammut, E. Falzon, L. Portelli (L. Abdilla), O. Smier, P. Azzopardi (D. Horun), G. Curmi (C. Calleja), G. Cumbo, J. Mwema Munjaw, L. Vella

Fgura: R. Attard, K. Scerri, R. Adami, G. Scerri (C. Calvagna), L. Vella (C. Cassar), S. Aquilina, L. Bonnett (J. Cauchi), M. Spiteri, M. Portelli, V. Camilleri, N. Zerafa

Referee: Martin Borg

Qrendi 0

Xghajra 2

Xghajra registerd their third consecutive win when they beat Qredi with the comfortable score of 2-0, thus going to a total of 32 points on the standings.

On the other hand this was the fourth defeat in a row for Qrendi, who remain in the lower end of the grid with 16 points.

The best opportunity in the first half came Qrendi’s way after 35 minutes of play, when after a good run by Azzopardi who crossed central to unmarked Camilleri, the latter’s shot on target went incredibly high.

Xghajra opened the scoring on 63 minutes, when Zammit intercepted Polenec’s shot shot, yet from the rebound, Aaron Pendry tapped the ball home.

Qrendi were close to equalising on 77 minutes, when from a freekick by Demicoli, Azzopardi’s shot was saved from over the line.

Xghajra sealed the match one minute from time, when a good run by Nosko was followed by a precise cross and Milan Polenec first timed home.

Qrendi: B. Zammit, B. Demicoli, L. Schembri, A. Formosa (S. Galea), P. Muscat, M. Farrugia, J. Camilleri, M. Ellul, P. Bezzina (L. Magri), R. Darmanin (J. Ellul), C. Azzopardi

Xghajra: R. Camilleri, N. Attard, M. Magro (S. Camilleri), A. Muscat, C. Magro, D. Axisa (M. Polenec), B. Magro, A. Vella (C. Micallef), M. Nosko, L. Grech, A. Pendry

Referee: Etienne Mangion