Derby halted after fan attacks linesman

St George's 1
Senglea Athletic 2

(match abandoned after 79 mins)

The derby between rivals Senglea Athletic and St George's was abandoned by referee Adrian Casha after 79 minutes following an attack by a fan on one of the assistant referees.

The incident occurred only a few minutes after Glenn Bonello had scored a perfectly legitimate goal to put Senglea 2-1 ahead.

A handful of supporters from the St George's side escaped the attentions of the few police officers on duty at the Hibs Ground and jumped over the fence. One of the culprits assailed assistant referee Alan Camilleri.

With the atmosphere on the terraces also becoming tense, referee Casha instructed the players to retreat to their penalty areas and then to the dressings rooms before deciding to abandon the match.

It was a pity that this derby between two teams still in with a chance of gaining promotion to the Premier League had to be stopped because of a despicable act of violence.

Meanwhile, St George's had held the initiative in the opening 25 minutes but they failed to convert their supremacy into goals. Senglea also did their part in preventing their bitter rivals from scoring as they defended solidly.

Roderick Spiteri was Senglea's best player in the first half, showing great composure and commitment to stamp his mark on the middle sector but injury curtailed his participation early in second period.

After two minutes, Anthony Bonello's through-pass reached St George's striker Trevor Thomas - yesterday lining up against his younger brother Timothy - inside the box but George Attard, the Senglea goalkeeper, came out to block the danger.

In the 13th minute, St George's were awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area from which Keith Darmanin swiftly guided the ball to Ewurun but his shot was parried by Attard.

The Saints continued to press forward with full-back Edgar Degabriele effecting a number of overlaps down the right flank. On 16 minutes, a Clive Brincat drive from the edge of the area was again stopped by the Senglea goalkeeper.

Senglea had to wait until the 21st minute to create their first attempt at goal, a Darren Grech long-range effort that was saved by Andrea Gatt, the St George's custodian.

Three minutes later, St George's striker Darmanin served Ewurun in the Senglea box but the Nigerian failed to hit the ball despite being well placed.

Senglea drew first blood against the run of play after 29 minutes. Spiteri's intelligent chip found Kenneth Abela unmarked inside the box and the former Hibs striker stabbed the ball home.

After their breakthrough, Senglea began to play better and five minutes from half-time, Spiteri once again supplied a crisp pass to Timothy Thomas whose effort sailed over the crossbar.

On the stroke of half-time, St George's had a free-kick that was again taken by Darmanin in the direction of Patrick Muscat who shot straight at the goalkeeper.

St George's started the second half on the offensive and got back on level terms 11 minutes after the break. The energetic Darmanin produced a fine through-pass towards Ewurun who fired the ball into the net.

Twenty minutes into the second half, Johan Spiteri, who had replaced Muscat during half-time, came close to putting St George's ahead but his screamer ended wide.

Twelve minutes from time, substitute Silvio Sciberras raced strongly on the right flank and set up Bonello whose cross-shot deceived Gatt.

That was to be the last action of the game as the incidents that followed led the referee to make the bold decision of calling off the match with Senglea leading 2-1.

St George's: A. Gatt, E. Degabriele, H. Schembri, E. Sevasta, J. Delia, A. Bonello, Trevor Thomas, A. Ewurun, P. Muscat (J. Spiteri), C. Brincat, K. Darmanin.

Senglea: G. Attard, G. Bonello, D. Aquilina, S. Aquilina, Timmy Thomas, R. Spiteri (S. Sciberras), E. Azzopardi, K. Abela, E. Bobolayefa, D. Grech, L. McKay.

Referee: Adrian Casha.