Six-goal thriller ends all square

Senglea Athletic 3
Mosta 3

If this game offers a true picture of what lies in store in Division One this season, then we're in for a good time.

Mosta and Senglea Athletic yesterday produced some excellent fare with the fighting spirit of the Cottonera outfit rewarding them with a merited draw.

Mosta are harbouring promotion aspirations after luring to their fold Digger Okonkwo and Ikechukwu Chib-ueze while Philip Camilleri was brought out of retirement after a few years of inactivity.

Technically the game was better than the St George's-Naxxar opener and both Mosta and Senglea on this form look set for an exciting championship.

Mosta created the first chance of the match when in the fourth minute Okonkwo burst into the Senglea area but shot wide. Four minutes later Chibueze gave Mosta the lead with a low drive.

But Senglea took only three minutes to equalise when Kenneth Abela fired an unstoppable shot from an acute angle - 1-1.

Play was then held mostly in midfield as both teams stopped for a breather after an explosive start with the only other chance before the interval coming from Senglea's Darren Grech who failed to score from an ideal position.

In the 69th minute, Leonid McKay beat three Mosta defenders but his shot missed the target. Two minutes later Mosta regained the lead when they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Chibueze. From the spot Pio Sciriha made no mistake.

On 75 minutes it was 3-1 for Mosta. Camilleri released Ives Bilocca who slotted the ball home.

Barely a minute later Senglea pulled one back thanks to Glenn Bonello's fine volley.

On 80 minutes Okonkwo's header hit the upright but five minutes from time, Abela scored a spectacular equaliser when he dribbled his way past the Mosta defence, rounded Sciberras before shooting the ball home.

Senglea: G. Attard, T. Ghirxi, F. Dingli, S. Aquilina, L. McKay, E. Bobolayefa, G. Bonello, K. Abela, D. Grech, A. Farrugia (T. Thomas), K. Mifsud (S. Sciberras).

Mosta: C. Sciberras, P. Sciriha, J. Grech, D. Okonkwo, R. Newell, A. Chetcuti (D. Falzon), R. Asciak, P. Camilleri (P. Zammit), I. Chibueze, I. Bilocca, B. Agius (B. Galea).

Referee: Chris Lautier.

St George's 2
Naxxar Lions 0

Second Division champions St George's started their season a grade higher in style after they beat a poor Naxxar Lions side who looked slow and weak especially at the back.

With Jesmond Delia marshalling the side at the back, coupled with the surging runs of Nigerian Enurum Chimezie on the flanks, St George's played a solid match and can now look forward to high places under Edward Darmanin.

Both teams opted for a safety approach in the opening stages of the match as they seemed more concerned at not conceding a goal rather than trying to score one themselves.

With St George's showing the better physical condition it was no surprise that they started dictating matters as the minutes ticked by.

Chimezie headed over early on but the Saints had to wait only until the 14th minute to take the lead when from a long clearance the ball fell into the path of the unmarked Nazzareno Abela who lobbed home.

One expected Naxxar to stage a reaction but the Saints rarely gave their opponents a sniff at goal. From a swift counter-break Keith Darmanin almost made it 2-0 but his header never reached the desired target.

Naxxar could have equalised on 36 minutes when Simon Muscat delivered a dangerous cross towards Jeremiah Ani but the Lions forward was blocked in time by Delia.

A minute from the break St George's forward Heathcliff Schembri saw his header cleared off the line by Ramon Schembri and from the rebound Chimezie's shot was saved by Mascena.

In the second half St George's showed good and organised play... Naxxar hardly got the chance to restore parity.

Instead it was the Saints who hit a second in stoppage time when Chimezie found Farrugia who shot home to seal a fine win for his team.

St George's: A. Gatt, G. Stivala (C. Grech), J. Spiteri, C. Brincat, E. Degabriele, E. Sevasta, E. Chimezie, J. Delia, N. Abela, K. Darmanin (M. Lagana), H. Schembri (A. Bonello).

Naxxar: R. Mascena, G. Mock, R. Schembri, D. Zucchero, P. Barbara (K. Grech), P. Fenech, T. Fenech, R. Dardouri, S. Muscat, D. Dimech, J. Ani.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.