Pembroke maintained their recent recovery as they demolished a poor 10-man Mosta side to distance themselves from the bottom placed team by four points.
It was a richly deserved win for Athleta who are now sensing their chances of avoiding relegation.
As for Mosta, it was another poor performance and they now remain firmly anchored to the bottom with just 13 points after the first two rounds.
The first half saw Pembroke having a good start as they took the initiative and penned their opponents in their own half.
When they finally scored two quick goals midway through, it seemed as if they deserved that lead, but from then on, Mosta came into the picture as they moved forward in search of a goal which would have kept them in contention.
True, they found their opponents’ net through a Mifsud Triganza header, but the point was disallowed as the scorer was flagged offside by the assistant referee.
At the interval, it was still a very difficult uphill struggle for the Blues.
In the second half, Pembroke remained the better team as they were in control of midfield.
Mosta never really rallied and Pembroke went on to add three more goals to their tally to make it a resounding win.
Unless Mosta roll up their sleeves and start gaining some points, their quest to avoid relegation could become impossible in the final round which starts before the end of the month.
Pembroke went out on attack and on four minutes, from a Kooh Sohna cross, Stevan Racic headed weakly and Mosta goalie Andreas Vella saved with ease.
At the other end, Dos Santos Calcado advanced unhindrfed on the right flank and crossed dangerously into the Pembroke goalmouth, but Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza missed the target completely with an open goal at his mercy, even if he had been flagged offside.
In the 12th minute, Cesar tried his luck for Mosta from a freekick, but the ball went wide.
Cesar was again in evidence on the 17th minute. He had a fine shot just missing the crossbar.
Pembroke’s reply in the 22nd minute saw a Falzon effort being deviated to a corner. From Barbetti’s cornerkick, the ball was headed by Racic towards debutant Radovnikovic who had no difficulty in planting it into the net.
Mosta had not yet settled down and Pembroke soon scored a second goal in the 24th minute and again it was Barbetti who was the provider as he crossed into the Mosta goalmouth where Andreas Scozzese headed home past goalie Andreas Vella.
In the 40th minute, Mosta had a goal disallowed. From a Calcado freekick it was Mifsud Triganza who headed home past Calleja Cremona, but the Mosta striker was flagged offside.
Pembroke were still the better team in the initial stages of the second half.
Mosta’s cause became even more difficult when their midfielder Pedro dos Santos Calcado was shown a red card for a bad tackle on Zoran Levnaic.
In the 63rd minute, substitute Eric Mikes was through on the left flank, but Calleja Cremona rushed out of his charge to thwart the Mosta striker.
At the other end, a Barbetti freekick was punched away by Andreas Vella and from the resultant breakaway, Mifsud Triganza came face to face with goalie Calleja Cremona who blocked the shot avoiding an awkward situation for Pembroke.
Mosta suffered a third goal in the 70th minute, when Pembroke were awarded a penalty for a Kyle Frendo foul on Nagaoka. From the spotkick, Radovnikovic made no mistake.
Some of the few Mosta supporters became angry clearly criticising the officials’ control. Some even broke a few seats, but the police soon calmed them down.
Soon after it was 4-0 as Darren Falzon concluded an action despite the close attention of a Mosta defender.
The Blues had two good chances to reduce the arrears in the 89th minute. First Cesar was anticipated by a Pembroke defender who cleared the ball in extremis to corner. Moments later, the same Cesar had a good header excellently saved by Calleja Cremona to corner.
In added time, it was Adrian Borg who sealed the issue with the fifth goal.
Pembroke Ath. 5
Mosta 0
Pembroke Ath.: M. Calleja Cremona, D. Falzon (T. Fench), Z. Levnaic (B. Farrugia), M. Attard, R. K. Sohna (S. Eboh), S. Racic, A. Borg, P. Barbetti, A. Scozzese, G. Nagaoka, T. Radovnikovic.
Mosta: A. Vella, R. Ekani (K.Frendo), M. Toth, D. Fenech, P. dos Santos Calcado, JP Mifsud Triganza, A. Caruana, K. Magro, R. Cesar, J. Grech (E. Mikes), G. Heron Miranada (K. Gatt).
Referee: F. Zammit.
Asst refs: J. Spiteri, S. Attard.
Additional asst. Refs: S. Spiteri, I. Barbara.
4th official: R. Aquilina.
Scorers: T. Radovnikovic, A. Scozzese, Racic pen, D. Falzon, A. Borg.
Yellow cards: Z. Levnaic, K. Magro, R. Cesar, P. Barbetti, D. Fenech
Red cards: P. Dos Santos Calcado,
Player of the match: P. Barbetti.
TMI Top 3: 1. P. Barbetti, 2. A. Scozzese, 3. S. Racic.