St. Andrews                      1
Gzira                                 0

St. Andrews: M. Calleja Cremona, A. Satariano (A. Borg 64'), K. Mcfarlane, A. Jake Friggieri, J. Farrugia (R. Martin 73'), K. Magro, J. Walker, M. Davis (K. Reid 83'), L. Sciberras, T. Blagrove, M. Woo Ling.

Gzira: A. Curmi, M. Lamlun (S. Borg 46'), N. Muscat, J. Domoraud, A. Cohen, C. Gatt Baldacchino, E. Zarate Bilbao, R. Briffa, G. Conti, F. Barbosa, M. Beerman.

Referee: Darryl Agius

Ass. Ref.:- Roberto Vella, Duncan Spencer

Fourth official: Sandro Spiteri

Scorer: Matthew Woo Ling 8'

Player of the match: Jake Friggieri (St. Andrew's)

TMI Best three: 1. M. Davis, 2. J. Friggieri, 3. A. Curmi

Attendance: 123

St. Andrew's grabbed a precious victory over third-placed Gzira United to avoid relegation, even though still have to play a play-off against the third placed in the First Division League, were Santa Lucia are firm favourites to gain access to this play-off tomorrow.

St. Andrew's were desperate to obtain victory and hope for some good news from the other stadiums, but Sneglea's victory over the Stripes left Johann Scicluna's side no other option but to face the play-off.

It was a deserved victory for St. Andrew's who played some polished football at times especially in the first half, against a demotivated Gzira side. The Maroons had already reached their goal by clinching third place and gain access to the Europa League next season, but their overall performance was pathetic at times yesterday.

St. Andrews took their opponents by storm in the first half, taking an early which proved to be the winner. But the Saints failed to kill the match with a second goal in the first half, and this mainly to some outstanding saves by Gzira custodian Anthony Curmi.

In the second half Gzira exherted more pressure even though sterile at times, but at least the pressure kept the Saints in their own half for much of the second half. The Maroons had their best chance when they won a penalty in the second half but Cohen's kick was brilliantly saved by Calleja Cremona.

The Saints went all out for an early goal and took the lead on eight minutes when Friggieri passed towards Matthew Woo Ling who drilled low into the net past Curmi.

St. Andrews continued to dictate and and a Kurt Magro long distance drive just missed the target. Four minutes from the break Curmi brought the house down with a brilliant save off a Friggieri shot on the turn from just inside the area. Sixty seconds later Curmi was again outstanding, this time denying Davis.

The second half started with St. Andrews going close with a Woo Ling drive, with the ball just missing the crossbar by a whisker. On 56 minutes Gzira had the best chance of the match when a Domoaud shot was handled by Magro, but from the resultant penalty, Andrew Cohen's low drive was well saved by Calleja Cremona.

Although missing the penalty, this was Gzira's best patch, with Cohen again testing Calleja Cremona and a Nikolai Muscat drive went inches wide. On 68 minutes Friggieri missed a sitter from an acute angle and on 78 minutes Davis should have sealed it with a second goal, but failed to beat Curmi from an ideal position.

In the last minutes Gzira pushed forward, but the Saints held on to their lead to avoid the drop and take another chance in the relegation play-off.