Slick Marsa go top after 3-1 victory

Marsa 3
Mosta 1

Marsa shot to the top of the standings after beating Mosta following a fine display of football with the ball played mainly on the ground which was no easy task yesterday. The condition of the Hibs Ground pitch is far from ideal at the moment.

The two players who stood out for Marsa were strikers Anthony Evi Parker and Gilbert Martin. The former scored a hat-trick. Rumours had it yesterday that he could be joining Msida St Joseph when the transfer market re-opens in January.

Mosta, again, were a disappointing lot. Clearly, they missed young talent Dyson Falzon who is in Slovakia with the Malta U-19 squad.

Marsa took the lead after only two minutes when a clearance from their rearguard was picked up by Martin. He flicked on to Evi Parker who slotted the ball behind onrushing Mosta keeper Charles Sciberras.

A minute later it could have been 2-0 when Evi Parker failed to head home a Johann Zammit cross in the area.

With Marsa piling up the pressure Mosta could have equalised during their first real threat on Elvin Attard's goal.

The Marsa no.1 mistimed his intervention on a Philip Camilleri cross but Roderick Asciak, unmarked at the far post, saw his shot hitting the woodwork.

Mosta took the upperhand but rarely troubled Attard again until a Matthew Borg 36th-minute first-timer, blocked by the Marsa keeper.

Mosta shifted all their focus in attack and it was no surprise that Marsa struck twice in the space of two minutes.

Martin's pace was too much for the Mosta rearguard. In the 42nd minute, the only way for Pio Vassallo to stop him was to trip him in the box... no doubt, it was a penalty. Evi Parker made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0.

Two minutes later a Martin throughpass found Evi Parker on the run. He was by far quicker than his direct markers and found no difficulty in lobbing the ball over the Mosta custodian - 3-0.

Mosta were a demoralised lot but still managed to move in attack after the break. After a Camilleri drive went inches wide, on 63 minutes Chibueze threw his team a lifeline when he took hold of a loose ball inside the Marsa area before blasting the ball home.

Mosta were prone to suffer from Marsa's counter-breaks.

In one such instance, Michael Molzahn's team almost scored their fourth goal but a Lee Grima header, from a Zammit cross, crashed against the bar.

Marsa: E. Attard, J. Buttigieg, D. Vella, J. Zammit, A. Mifsud, K. Farrugia, G. Martin, R. Bonnici, B. Zammit (L. Grima), J.P. Zammit, A. Evi Parker (S. Cutajar).

Mosta: C. Sciberras, P. Sciriha, P. Vassallo (A. Chetcuti), D. Okonkwo, R. Asciak, P. Camilleri (L. Cilia), I. Chibueze, I. Bilocca, M. Borg, J. Grech (C. Tabone), R. Newell.

Referee: Chris Lautier.

San Gwann 0
St George's 0

With both sides finishing on the losing end in their previous outing, this match was important not just for morale but also to improve positions at this early stage of the season.

Despite no goals being scored, it was an entertaining encounter and had both sides taken half their chances then a 3-3 final scoreline would have been more appropriate.

After only eight minutes, San Gwann could have taken the lead when Kevin Loughborough's measured pass found Sandro Zammit Fava in a good position but the veteran midfielder lifted the ball over the crossbar.

After this early scare, the Saints started to click better and on 13 minutes, from a Jesmond Delia corner, Chibueze was almost on target with a crisp header. Two minutes later Delia surged on a solo effort but miscalculated his conclusion.

Edward Darmanin's St George's were perhaps the better side in the first half and were unlucky not to have taken the lead in the 34th minute when Godwin Stivala's headed effort, from a free-kick, was stopped by the crossbar. Then, Manuel Bartolo was on the right spot to stop a Keith Darmanin strike.

San Gwann played better after the break and on 52 minutes Loughborough found Karl Sciberras whose fierce drive was saved by Andrea Gatt. On 57 minutes a Chris Cuschieri volley was again kept out by the St George's keeper.

The best move of the game came in the 65th minute when Sciberras and Cuschieri combined well together with the former seeing his shot going just wide of the far post.

As the minutes ticked away, St George's started to regain the upperhand again. Ewurum, put through by Nazzareno Abela, was blocked in time by the San Gwann keeper who was alert soon after to deny Ewurum again.

Substitute Heathcliff Schembri sent in an inviting cross inside the San Gwann area seven minutes from time but Ewurum's header failed to reach the desired target.

Deep into injury time Noel Coleiro's San Gwann almost snatched the points when from a Chris Agius corner Wilfred Spiteri's header was cleared off the line by Darmanin. From the rebound Cuschieri's drive was ably saved by Gatt.

San Gwann: M. Bartolo, S. Vella, A. Decesare, A. Zammit Fava, A. Saliba, W. Spiteri, K. Micallef (C. Agius), K. Loughborough (A. Borg), C. Cuschieri, K. Sciberras, J. Achockwu (B. Chetcuti).

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

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.