Mqabba trounce 10-man Marsa

Mqabba 4
Marsa 0

Mqabba are back in the promotion hunt after annihilating a Marsa side that were never in the game yesterday. Vince Carbonaro's team dominated almost from start to finish but the outcome could have been different had Marsa scored a penalty with 24 minutes to go.

Instead, they threw everything away when goalkeeper Ivan Casha missed the twice-taken 'spot-kick' and then got himself red-carded for a foul with Mqabba leading 2-0. This was Marsa's second defeat in as many matches as last week they went down to St Patrick.

Mqabba put their noses in front after 17 minutes when a good move between Uchanna Anywanna and Martin Borg saw the latter unleashing a scorcher from the edge of the area that gave Casha no chance.

A minute later Mqabba made it two, and what a superb goal it was.

John Paul Muscat accelerated on the left, found Marlon Briffa who somehow squared the ball to Chris Borg, the latter hitting home from just inside the box.

Marsa were now in disarray as Mqabba continued with their momentum and penned their opponents in their own half.

Casha made a fine save to stop an Anywanna header and an Albert Busuttil free-kick crashed against the Marsa bar.

But Marsa were a different lot after the break. A Brandon Zammit cross was headed well by Gilbert Martin but Kris Calleja saved. Jeremy Dalli then tried his luck but the Mqabba no.1 was well-positioned to save his goal.

With Marsa pushing more men forward Mqabba were finding gaps inside their opponents' defensive lines through quick fast breaks but they failed to make the most of the occasions that came their way.

They almost paid dearly for this because on 66 minutes Marsa were awarded a penalty after Martin was sent tumbling inside the Mqabba box.

Penalty-taker Casha again took the responsibility and scored from the spot. The 'goal', however, was disallowed by the referee for an infringement and this time Calleja saved Casha's re-taken shot.

Casha's woes were compounded soon after when he pushed Mark Anthony Psaila to the ground and was dismissed for the offence. Marsa had already effected three substitutions and midfielder Kevin Scerri had to complete the match in goal.

Four minutes later the match was over after Mqabba's third goal from Marlon Briffa. Marco Catania rounded up the score for his team with a fourth goal 15 minutes from time.

Mqabba: K. Calleja, P. Grima, A. Busuttil, M.A. Psaila, M. Briffa (A. Formosa), M. Borg (E. Borg), J.P. Muscat, M. Bonnici, U. Anywanna, C. Borg (M. Anastasi), M. Catania

Marsa: I. Casha, G. Bencini, D. Vella (R. Micallef), N. Slavtchev, G. Martin, D. Gatt, B. Zammit, K. Scerri, W. Chircop (T. Thomas), S. Meilak (J. Dalli), J.P. Zammit.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Senglea Athletics 3
St Andrew's 1

Iro Curmi's stint as Senglea Athletics coach started well yesterday after a 3-1 victory over St Andrew's at the Tedesco Stadium. Following Dragan Zivkovic and Raymond Camilleri, it was now left to Curmi, former assistant coach at Mosta, to put Senglea's season back on track.

Senglea surely deserved their win as they created most of the chances and were denied several times by the fine handling of Jonathan Debono in goal.

The Saints continue to falter. Their only consolation, perhaps, was Jerry Ani's encouraging debut. The Nigerian, formerly of Valletta, had a good outing and could be an asset for his new side in their bid to stave off relegation.

Senglea had more of the ball in the first 45 minutes but it was St Andrew's who created the first scoring opportunity when after only four minutes a Nicky Micallef corner was headed just wide by Brian Galea.

Despite Senglea's attacking plan, they had to wait until the 28th minute to seriously test Debono when Anthony Gera's drive was turned to a corner. St Andrew's could have taken a surprise lead on the half-hour mark. Lawrence Attard failed to clear, the ball finished in the path of Brian Chetcuti whose cross was headed over the bar by Ani.

A Darren Grech free-kick was ably saved by the alert Debono who, however, was beaten on 36 minutes. From a Clint Caruana cross, substitute Jason Borg headed home.

Senglea started the second half on attack, trying to kill the game off.

A choral move, involving at least four Senglea players, saw Borg foiled by Debono's timely intervention.

Borg was again close on 52 minutes when he found space in the opponents' penalty area, but again the Saints keeper did well to avoid suffering a second goal.

St Andrew's tried to get out of their defensive shell and were unlucky when defender Roderick Briffa saw his effort blocked by Attard on the goal line.

The Saints did manage to equalize in the 65th minute though, Ani scoring from an acute angle.

But Senglea did not lie back and took nine minutes to regain the lead. Borg, put through by Mark Marlow, took his time to roll the ball past the onrushing Debono.

The Cottonera side made the game safe four minutes from time.

The Saints rearguard failed to clear a cross and Glenn Bonello was on the right spot to shoot the ball home from five metres out.

Senglea: G. Attard, D. Gauci, L. Attard, D. Cosaitis, D. Grech, M. Marlow (L. McKay), A. Gera (E. Azzopardi), C. Caruana, K. Abela (J. Borg), E. Bobolayefa, G. Bonello.

St Andrew's: J. Debono, S. Falzon, R. Briffa, B. Chetcuti (A. Galea), J. Sank, M. Mangion, M. Borg Olivier, B. Galea (I. Borg), G. Bartolo (A. Galea), N. Micallef, J. Ani.

Referee: Clayton Pisani.