St George's march on

St George's 3
Naxxar Lions 1

St George's stayed on the right track with a fine win over Naxxar, a result that puts them alone at the top of the table with maximum points from four matches. They had Anthony Ewurun running the show for them yesterday. He was always dangerous whenever he got hold of the ball.

Trevor Thomas, Keith Darmanin and Jesmond Delia combined perfectly as Naxxar found it difficult to get their act together, especially in midfield.

The Lions had keeper Reuben Cini back in the line-up after missing the previous two games through injury.

Marco Gerada's side dominated most of the first 45 minutes, even though Naxxar had a couple of clear goal-scoring opportunities.

After only two minutes Thomas went down in the box but instead of a penalty he was booked by the referee. Four minutes later Anthony Bonello headed in the Lions' net from a corner but the 'goal' was disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper.

In the 10th minute St George's went 1-0 up. Bonello got it right this time to slot the ball home from close range.

The Saints continued to show better ideas and in the 15th minute an Ewurun cross was headed by Thomas with Cini well-positioned to save.

Naxxar responded in the 21st minute when a Clifford Mifsud cross was hit just wide by Chima Dozie.

St George's missed a sitter when from a Darmanin free-kick, Clive Brincat miscued his shot with an open goal at his mercy. At the other end, Mifsud's drive from 25 metres was repelled by Andrea Gatt.

The Saints made it 2-0 in the 41st minute when Ewurun picked the ball from around 35 metres out, surged forward and with two clever dummies beat a couple of defenders before hitting low into the net. The Naxxar custodian got a hand to it, but the ball still rolled in.

A minute later Thomas could have made the game safe when he, too, ran free at the Naxxar defence but Cini was fast this time to block.

A minute before the break a Simon Muscat cross was hit forcefully by Dozie but Gatt showed excellent reflexes to turn to a corner.

Delia's long ball, early in the second half, found Thomas unmarked in the area but the former Senglea striker missed the target for St George's who looked more focused on controlling the match after the break.

In the 74th minute it was 3-0. Substitute Anthony Lagana found Ewurun in the box and the Nigerian striker flashed past Justin Zammit and Ramon Schembri before planting the ball into the net.

Naxxar tried their best to make the score more respectable but found it difficult to break down a stubborn St George's defence.

They did manage to score a consolation goal a minute into added time when Dozie found space inside the Saints' box before hitting low past Gatt.

St George's: A. Gatt (A. Bonnici), J. Delia, E. Degabriele, C. Brincat, A. Bonello, C. Grech (L. Lagana), P. Muscat, K. Darmanin, S. Sciberras, A. Ewurun, T. Thomas (A. Lagana).

Naxxar: R. Cini, K. Grech (B. Chetcuti), J. Mifsud (K. Fenech), G. Naudi, G. Camilleri, C. Dozie, S. Muscat, T. Fenech, C. Mifsud, R. Schembri, J. Zammit (G. Magri).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.