Marsa back in the hunt but Saints held

Naxxar Lions 1
St George's 1

St George's failed to win the three points for a second consecutive outing. The week before they were held by Senglea and yesterday it was modest Naxxar's turn to steal away a draw from the leaders.

It seems that lately Marco Gerada's side are finding the going tough. With teams like Tarxien, Marsa and Mqabba showing considerable improvement they have to pull up their socks to confirm their promotion credentials.

The Saints started in tremendous fashion, dominating the game and looking as if they were going to tame the Lions without breaking a sweat.

Trevor Thomas should have scored after only two minutes when he found himself unmarked in the Naxxar area, but his shot was saved by stand-in keeper Kevin Agius.

However, it was Naxxar who took the lead on eight minutes.

A Gilbert Camilleri shot from inside the penalty area was fluffed by keeper Andrea Gatt with the ball rolling agonisingly inside the net.

St George's looked a different side after this goal and with the Lions growing in stature, they were now on the receiving end.

Glenn Magri again found Camilleri in a good position but this time the Lions midfielder was foiled by Gatt. Gerada's men continued to struggle when a Cedric Sciberras free-kick was headed by Camilleri with Gatt saving well.

On resumption Naxxar again looked the better side. Chima Dozie dribbled past Emmanuel Sevasta with his final shot just missing the target.

Naxxar could have increased their lead on the hour when Chris Tabone dribbled his way through but his shot was stopped by Gatt.

St George's upped their game and drew level in the 66th minute.

A Johann Spiteri drive was parried by Agius but from the rebound Spiteri lifted the net with a volley.

Three minutes from time a Thomas shot hit the bar. Ewurun and Keith Darmanin were both near and ready to slot the ball home but got into each other's way, with the ball cleared to safety.

Naxxar: K. Agius, G. Naudi, C. Sciberras, R. Schembri, M. Borg, C. Tabone (J. Zammit), G. Magri (M. Gauci), T. Fenech, V. Bellia, C. Dozie, G. Camilleri (A. Galea).

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

Referee: Adrian Casha.

Lija Athletic 0
Marsa 3

Gilbert Martin confirmed that he is one of the best players in Division One. Yesterday, he had a superb match for Marsa and not even a missed penalty could ruin his day as Michael Molzahn's team are now back in the race for promotion.

Both teams badly needed points for different reasons. But from the early stages Marsa showed that they were the better side against relegation-troubled opponents.

After only 10 minutes, they could have taken the lead when Martin beat the offside trap but shot wide of goal with the keeper to beat.

Marsa broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when a Kevin Scerri throughpass from the left was concluded by Steven Meilak who anticipated goalkeeper Etienne Mercieca before slotting the ball home.

Marsa could have added a second soon after when Martin was tripped in the box by Mercieca. A penalty was given and Mercieca sent off for the foul. Martin took the penalty himself but shot wide of goal.

Lija's first scoring opportunity came on 39 minutes when a Ramon Farrugia cross was headed goalwards by Michael Gatt but keeper Ivan Casha extended himself to save his goal.

Jimmy Briffa's Lija again went close in the 42nd minute when Alan Ellul crossed from the right, with Brandon Lowell's header just missing the target.

Marsa made the game safe on 55 minutes. From a Nikolai Slavtchev free-kick, Martin made up for his missed penalty by scoring a beauty with a punishing half-volley.

It was certainly not Lija's day yesterday. They had a chance to crawl back into the game on 64 minutes when Jean Paul Zammit pulled Michael Gatt in the Marsa box.

However, from the penalty Zjerko Anicic saw Casha guessing the right angle to save the spot-kick.

Twelve minutes from time, Martin showed his true class when his accurate pass sent substitute Timmy Thomas through. The former Senglea striker rounded substitute goalkeeper Luke Bonnici before driving the ball home.

Lija: E. Mercieca, J. Cauchi, E. Azzopardi (J. Camilleri), A. Ellul, D. Scerri, M. Gatt, R. Farrugia (P. Camilleri), B. Lowell, N. Gatt, G. Calabretta (L. Bonnici), Z. Anicic.

Marsa: I. Casha, G. Bencini, K. Scerri, K. Cassar, S. Cutajar, J. Casha (A. Pace), N. Slavtchev, G. Martin, S. Meilak (T. Thomas), J.P. Zammit, B. Zammit (D. Gatt).

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.