St Patrick in safer waters

St Patrick 2
Lija Athletic 1

St Patrick overcame Lija Athletic 2-1 to register their second consecutive win which lifted them into safer waters. On the other hand, defeat edged Lija closer to the relegation zone.

The first 45 minutes were dominated by the Saints with Lija being the better team in the second period.

After eight minutes, a Mark Tanti free-kick for the Saints was tipped over the crossbar by Etienne Mercieca. From the resultant corner, taken by Thomas Caruana, Gordon Failla's header just missed the target.

On 20 minutes, Tanti delivered a fine cross towards Caruana whose looping header was brilliantly saved by Mercieca.

St Patrick continued to push hard for a breakthrough and in the 31st minute, a cross from Sandro Costa Brazilino was headed goalward by Caruana but the ball hit the post.

Two minutes later, the Saints forged ahead. Once again, it was Brazilino who supplied the through-ball, this time into the path of Michael Zerafa who had the better of Mercieca.

Lija took to the second half in offensive mode, forcing St Patrick to defend for long stretches.

Jimmy Briffa's side drew level in controversial fashion 10 minutes into the second half. A Zjelko Anicic cross was headed towards goal by Michael Gatt but St Patrick's Sean Mintoff looked to have blocked the effort.

Assistant referee Saviour Tanti signalled to referee Adrian Azzopardi that the ball had crossed the line and a goal was given to Lija... a controversial decision that brought heavy protests from goalkeeper Mintoff.

Lija came close again in the 67th minute when an Anicic corner was met by Michael Gatt but St Patrick defender Clayton Micallef cleared off the line.

Once more, Lija were unlucky when, with 15 minutes remaining, another inviting Anicic corner saw Beppe Antignolo guiding a header towards goal but Carl Vassallo, who had just replaced Micallef, prevented the ball from crossing the goal-line.

Two minutes later, Gilbert Scerri's solo run could have produced a goal but after skipping several Lija players, the St Patrick striker shot straight at Mercieca from a difficult angle.

Bobby Giorev's side hit the winning goal 11 minutes from time. The Lija rearguard cleared a St Patrick attack just outside the box but the ball came to Benior Fenech whose first-time effort lifted the roof of the net.

St Patrick: S. Mintoff, A. Buttigieg, M. Zerafa, M. Fleri Soler, S. Costa Brazilino, M. Tanti, G. Failla (G. Scerri), T. Caruana (L. Vella), B. Fenech, S. Zerafa, C. Micallef (C. Vassallo).

Lija: E. Mercieca, E. Azzopardi (A. Scicluna), J.P. Scerri, A. Ellul (J. Camilleri), D. Scerri, M. Gatt, N. Gatt, P. Camilleri, G. Calabretta (D. Cremona), Z. Anicic, B. Antignolo.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

St George's 1
San Gwann 0

St George's consolidated their position at the top of the standings after beating a determined San Gwann side 1-0 yesterday.

Coming from an unexpected defeat against Lija, St George's didn't scale the heights of their first few games but they did just enough to bag maximum spoils and increase their lead on Marsa to four points.

St George's had gone close after only seven minutes when a Cristiano Grech cross found Trevor Thomas unmarked in the box but the latter's swerving attempt was saved by San Gwann custodian Justin Spiteri.

Three minutes later, Anthony Ewurun tried to chip the ball towards the unmarked Clive Brincat but San Gwann's Stacy Vella cleared.

San Gwann created their first notable scoring chance on 26 minutes when Luke Vella Critien's cross-shot from the right was touched away for a corner by Andrea Gatt.

St George's responded in the 34th minute when Emanuel Sevasta regained possession in midfield, burst through the San Gwann rearguard but his end-shot was tipped over for a corner by Spiteri.

Eight minutes from half-time, St George's scored what proved to be the winning goal. They were awarded a penalty after Wilfred Spiteri pulled Ewurun inside the box. Jesmond Delia blasted the ball into the net via the crossbar from the spot.

San Gwann upped their performance in the second half. They should have equalised when Sevasta tripped Randolph Penza and referee Alan Mario Sant ordered a penalty. Kevin Loughborough's penalty shot was saved by Gatt, and Peter Chizoba Anizoba fired the loose ball high.

San Gwann were again unlucky not to draw level in the 71st minute when substitute Andrea Zammit Tabona's free-kick came off the crossbar.

In stoppage time, San Gwann could have snatched a deserved equaliser when an Adrian Farrugia through-pass rolled towards Penza but the latter shot high from a good position.

St George's: A. Gatt, E. Degabriele, E. Sevasta, A. Bonello, J. Delia, J. Spiteri, P. Muscat, C. Brincat, A. Ewurun, T. Thomas, C. Grech.

San Gwann: J. Spiteri, L. Vella Critien, K. Loughborough (A. Zammit Tabona), A. Saliba, S. Vella, C. Cuschieri, V. Camilleri, W. Spiteri (A. Farrugia), P. Chizoba Anizoba, K. Sciberras (A. Borg), R. Penza.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.