Tarxien stun leaders as Marsa thump Senglea

Tarxien Rainbows 2
St George's 1

Tarxien's coaching duo of Jesmond Zerafa and Twanny Dalli possibly took the biggest risk of their careers against leaders St George's.

Having to win at all costs to keep their promotion hopes alive, they started the game with three strikers. Midway through the second half, Tarxien's coaching tandem pulled off defender Floyd Farrugia, and put on striker Simon Shead to play the rest of the game with four forwards.

It turned out to be a masterstroke as three minutes from time, Shead silenced the St George's fans when he scored the winner to relaunch his team's promotion ambitions. Tarxien are now third in the standings three points adrift of leaders St George's and one behind second-placed Marsa.

The result was a huge blow for St George's who could have sealed their promotion with a win over Tarxien yesterday. But now, they must beat Marsa next weekend or else risk missing out on promotion.

Tarxien opened the scoring after only 17 minutes. Kurt Coleiro profited from a poor clearance from St George's defender Emmanuel Sevasta and hammered home from close in.

On the half hour, the leaders came close to making it 1-1 when a Keith Darmanin free-kick was headed just wide by Anthony Bonello. But they soon made up for this miss as two minutes later Darmanin headed home the equaliser.

A Clive Brincat long-range shot was saved by Andrea Gatt, the St George's goalkeeper. At the other end, Omar Grech served Carlos Camenzuli who concluded wide.

After the break, Tarxien pushed more men forward in search of a winner but it was St George's who created the better chance. A cross from the left by Mifsud deceived Curmi, the ball came to substitute Matthew Spiteri who hit over.

Tarxien netted the all-important goal three minutes from time when Camenzuli picked up substitute Shead who dived full stretch and headed the ball home.

In injury time, St George's had Matthew Spiteri sent off for a second bookable offence.

Tarxien: A. Curmi, F. Farrugia (S. Shead), M. Caruana, E. Saliba, J. Tonna, K. Zammit, M. Micallef, A. Tabone, C. Camenzuli, K. Coleiro (B. Testaferrata), O. Grech (G. Cutajar).

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

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Marsa 3
Senglea Athletics 0

Marsa produced a five-star performance to crush fellow promotion hopefuls Senglea Athletics and move closer to securing Premier League football next season.

Gilbert Martin notched a brace to help his team bag three crucial points that strengthened their runners-up spot in the standings.

Senglea sorely felt the absence of captain Simon Aquilina and Lawrence Attard who skipped the match through suspension, as they could do little to stop a determined Marsa side.

Both sides were on the offensive right from the start. Early on, Senglea appealed for a penalty when Jason Borg nipped in the Marsa defence and looked to have been illegally blocked by Marsa goalkeeper Ivan Casha. But the referee saw nothing untoward.

It was Marsa who were awarded a penalty when referee Anton Zammit pointed to the spot on 23 minutes when Daniel Cosaitis floored Martin in the area. The same Marsa forward made no mistake from the spot.

On 35 minutes, Senglea goalkeeper George Attard turned to a corner Nikolai Slavtchev's free-kick. At the other end, Darren Grech found Kenneth Abela who headed over.

A minute before the break, Senglea were unlucky not to equalise when Abela's looping header looked to have gone in but strangely enough the ball rolled over the face of goal.

On the restart, Marsa should have made it 2-0, Martin controlled the ball and after beating a couple of defenders hit wide.

Senglea responded on 51 minutes when Mark Marlow's cross was again headed over by Abela.

Marsa doubled the score on 57 minutes when Sean Cutajar picked Martin who fired an unstoppable grounder that hit the back of the net.

It was all Marsa now, substitute Timmy Thomas forcing Attard into a good diving save.

Marsa sealed the points 19 minutes from time when Thomas beat the Senglea offside trap before firing the ball home, via the upright.

Thomas and Martin missed further chances to increase their team's lead but it little mattered as in the end Marsa were celebrating a vital win that moved them closer to top-flight football.

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

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

Referee: Anton Zammit.