Scerri's late equaliser foils Saints

St George's 1
Marsa 1

The aspirations of St George's to avoid the drop were dealt a severe blow yesterday when they were held to a draw by bottom-placed Marsa in a Relegation Pool clash at the National Stadium.

It was a disappointing result for the Saints who were clearly the better team and looked well on course to winning the three points when Alfred Effiong put them ahead early in the second half.

That breakthrough paved the way for a series of attacks from St George's and only a string of fine saves from Marsa goalkeeper Jonathan Debono and the woodwork denied them a second goal that would have all but sealed the contest in their favour.

But football is an unpredictable sport and St George's were made to pay for wasting their chances as four minutes from time they conceded an equaliser that left them two points adrift of third-from-bottom Pietà Hotspurs who have a game in hand.

Things certainly look grim for the team from Cottonera who now have no other option but to pick maximum spoils from their remaining four matches to avoid a quick return to Division One football next season.

As for Marsa, the point gained yesterday did little to enhance their slim chances of salvation.

Edmund Lufi's team, with only three points in their favour, need a miracle to retain their status and failure to win their next match could almost certainly seal their relegation.

For the second successive match, St George's coach Marco Gerada was facing a dearth of personnel while naming his starting formation.

Yesterday, he had only 14 players available. Brazilian forward Edoardo Do Nascimento and midfielder Edgar Degabriele were both ruled out through suspension while midfielder Anthony Bonello and Kurt Formosa are still recovering from injury.

On a plus note, striker Heathcliffe Schembri returned after missing the 3-2 defeat to Floriana through suspension.

Lufi had no such worries as he had a full complement to choose from with striker Gilbert Martin returning to the starting formation to partner Ishaky Umoru up front.

St George's took control of the match right from the outset, displaying some quick passing football that created several problems to the Marsa defence. The clock marked 15 minutes when Antoine Zahra sent a dangerous ball into the area but, luckily for Marsa, goalkeeper Debono was on hand to stop the ball before falling into the clutches of the unmarked Effiong.

On 21 minutes Johan Spiteri tried his luck for St George's from the distance but the ball flew over.

Marsa tried to respond with quick breaks on the agile Martin. On 28 minutes, he was released by Bellia but was stopped in time by goalkeeper Bernard Paris.

Two minutes later, Martin served Umoru whose shot was blocked but his second attempt was just wide.

The next ten minutes saw some scrappy play from both sides. They struggled to create any decent goalscoring opportunity with the only attempts on goal coming from St George's defender Renato Conceicao and Diego Cucciardi, of Marsa. Both fired central shots that were easily dealt with.

Three minutes from the break, Marsa almost regaled the Saints an opener when they failed to clear Conceicao's long pass and in came Lawrence Mizzi whose firm drive forced an excellent reflex save from Debono.

At the restart, Gerada withdrew midfielder Lee Grima and roped in forward Keith Darmanin as he looked to add more firepower to his forward line. The move reaped instant dividends as St George's broke the stalemate inside the first minute.

Larry Lagana, very active for his side, calibrated an inch-perfect pass for Effiong who raced through on goal before placing the ball past the advancing Debono.

The goal spurred the Saints to push more men forward and on 51 minutes Spiteri was unlucky not to double his team's lead but his dipping header bounced off the bar. Lagana quickly reclaimed possession and let go a rasping drive that was parried in style by Debono.

On 62 minutes Effiong again burst through the Marsa defence but this time the Nigerian was thwarted by a providential tackle from Emil Yanchev.

Eighteen minutes from time, St George's thought they had scored a second goal when Lagana's piledriver came off the woodwork and bounced a few metres away from the line with Effiong nodding the ball home.

However, the 'goal' was disallowed for offside.

Marsa's response arrived six minutes from time when substitute Andrew Scerri turned round his marker before firing a firm shot that was palmed to a corner by Paris.

From the flag-kick, taken by Graham Bencini, defender Kevin Scerri anticipated his marker to head the ball past the helpless Paris.

St George's were stunned. They tried to regroup and launch a late rally. The best chance fell to Schembri in stoppage time but he dallied to conclude and the chance was lost.

St George's: B. Paris-6, J. Spiteri-6.5, A. Effiong-7, R. Conceicao-6.5, L. Grima-5.5 ('46 K. Darmanin-6), E. Sevasta-6, C. Brincat-6.5, L. Lagana-7.5, B. Fenech-6, A. Zahra-6 ('75 H. Schembri), L. Mizzi-7.

Marsa: J. Debono-7, G. Bencini-6, E. Yanchev-6, N. Fasinelli-5.5, K. Scerri-6.5, J. Achokwu-5, V. Bellia-5.5 ('66 B. Zammit-6), D. Cucciardi-6 ('82 W. Chircop), J.P. Zammit-6.5, G. Martin-6.5, I. Umoru-5 ('53 A. Scerri-6).

Referee: Andre Arciola.

Scorers: Effiong 46; K. Scerri 86.

Yellow Cards: Zahra, Conceicao, Achokwu, Darmanin.

BoV Player of the Match: Larry Lagana (St George's).