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Tarxien Rainbows 1
St George's 0

Tarxien Rainbows moved on top of the Division One standings after having the better of rivals St George's.

The in-form Rainbows, who have ten points from four matches - one more than second-placed Mosta who face Senglea today, look a good bet for promotion to the Premier League.

As happens most of the time when two strong sides face each other, Tarxien and St George's failed to live up to expectations as they were more concerned in not conceding a goal rather than scoring one themselves.

St George's will be disappointed with the result as it jolted their hopes of keeping the pace with the leading pack. Although it is still early days in the season, points missed early in the campaign might prove to be a decisive factor in the race for promotion.

Tarxien fully deserved the points even though they should have sealed the match earlier had they been sharp enough in front of goal.

The Rainbows made a strong start and they forged ahead after 20 minutes. Essien Mbong showed some neat play before serving Simon Muscat who squared the ball into the path of Angus Buhagiar who had no difficulty in slotting the ball past goalkeeper Andrea Gatt.

The Rainbows kept up the tempo and eight minutes later Buhagiar freed Malcolm Buttigieg whose shot finished over the crossbar.

St George's reaction failed to arrive and it was Tarxien who threatened again five minutes into the second half when Ryan Grech drove the ball just wide.

Gatt came to St George's rescue on 59 minutes when he dived to his right to keep out Buhagiar's piledriver.

The Saints tried to get back into the match and on 69 minutes Marmara's free-kick just missed the target. Then Emerson Amaira had a good shot saved by Anthony Curmi.

With St George's pushing forward for an equaliser it was Tarxien who could have killed off the match with their swift breaks but Buhagiar and Muscat were denied by Gatt.

Tarxien: A. Curmi, S. Sadowski, M. Caruana (A. Mangion), M. Buttigieg (G. Cutajar), S. Muscat, E. Mbong, S. Shead (O. Grech), A. Buhagiar, R. Schembri, R. Grech, L. Vella Critien.

St George's: A. Gatt, C. Grech, A. Bonello, J. Delia, S. Cassar, H. Schembri (E. Amaira), S. Sciberras, P. Anizoba, C. Caruana, G. Tanti (A. Marmara), V. Camilleri (L. Agius).

Referee: Andre Arciola.

Man of the match: Simon Muscat (Tarxien).