Senglea halt Mosta as Qormi beat Marsa

Senglea Athletics 2
Mosta 1

Senglea handed Mosta their first defeat of the season at the Tedesco Stadium yesterday. Senglea produced a sound display against a team that started the match on the back of three victories from the same number of outings. Now, Tarxien Rainbows are the sole leaders of the Division One championship.

Richard Mercieca's team did dominate possession, but, technically they were the better side. Mosta surely missed Charles Sciberras. He will be out for several months to nurse a knee injury. Daniel Theuma, another Mosta veteran, is expected to be back in the next couple of weeks.

The Blues ventured forward first. Carlos Camenzuli turned well past his marker but his lob finished over the bar.

Senglea hit back with a goal a minute later. Anthony Ewurun's first shot was parried by Jonathan Debono and from the rebound the Nigerian striker drove the ball home.

Senglea continued to show the better ideas and in the 12th minute they could have gone two goals ahead when Ewurun delivered a perfect pass to Mark Tanti whose drive finished a whisker away from goal.

Senglea maintained the pace and in the 26th minute Ewurun released Kenneth Abela whose drive from just inside the area finished wide. Ewurun was unlucky soon after when his shot hit the bar and from the rebound, Abela's attempt came off the upright.

On the half-hour mark, Abela received a perfect ball from Glenn Bonello, the veteran striker beat Steve Borg's challenge but shot out of range.

Mosta started the second half on a better footing and managed to equalise on 50 minutes when Senglea captain Aquilina brought down Ryan Deguara in the box. Borg stepped up for the penalty and beat George Attard to make it one-all.

But Senglea regained the lead with a 56th-minute goal. Abela, put through by Ewurun, let fly a volley that smacked against the bar but from the loose ball Tanti left Debono helpless with a scorching drive.

Senglea came close again on 77 minutes when Abela hit wide from six metres out.

In the 81st minute Mosta were denied by Attard off an Adrian Borg header as Michael Molzahn's men tried hard not to finish empty-handed. But Senglea were up for the challenge to preserve their lead.

Senglea: G. Attard, S. Aquilina, E. Azzopardi, D. Okonkwo, C. Cuschieri, K. Mifsud, M. Tanti, C. Caruana, G. Bonello (J. Borg), A. Ewurun, K. Abela.

Mosta: J. Debono, A. Borg, S. Borg, M. Brincat, C. Camenzuli, R. Deguara, M. Farrugia, M. Galea (G. Martin), I. Ginev (C. Pace), A. Saliba, P. Vassallo (J. Borg).

Referee: Gordon Barbara.

Man of the match: Mark Tanti (Senglea).

Marsa 3
Qormi 4

Qormi registered their third successive victory yesterday to move further up the standings as Marsa slipped to another defeat that leaves them hovering dangerously at the bottom end of the standings.

Qormi were the better side but Marsa staged a lively second-half comeback which, however, came too late as they had already succumbed to a three-goal deficit.

Jesmond Zerafa's team immediately showed their intentions when they forged ahead after only six minutes. Lee Grima and Carmel Formosa combined well before the latter punished the wayward Marsa rearguard with a quick goal.

A minute later Qormi were dangerous again when Joseph Chetcuti found Formosa but this time Keith Brincat, in the Marsa goal, rushed out to intercept with his feet.

In the 15th minute Marsa produced their first shot at goal when Jeremy Dalli's drive was deflected to a corner following a Warren Chircop cross. A minute later Kevin Xerri's free-kick for Marsa was kept out by Matthew Farrugia.

In the 21st minute Qormi could have doubled the score when from a Grima free-kick, the ball hit a post and Formosa blasted the loose ball wide.

Marsa equalised in the 29th minute with a Xerri free-kick. This time Farrugia could do nothing to prevent the ball from hitting the back of his net.

But, Qormi regained the lead on 33 minutes when Clyde Camoin's corner was turned into the Marsa goal by the luckless Brincat. Formosa made it 3-1 on the stroke of half-time when he raced through before hitting low into the net.

Qormi made it 4-1 on 47 minutes when a bad clearance paved the way for Grima to beat the Marsa keeper with ease.

The game looked over at this stage but Marsa did not surrender. Chircop pulled one back on 50 minutes after advancing from the right before beating Farrugia with a crisp grounder.

Five minutes later Marsa won a penalty when Daniel Zuccaro tripped Xerri. Darren Vella scored from spot and Marsa were now back in the match. They came close to equalising when a Joseph Rizzo shot hit Farrugia's woodwork.

Qormi should have made the game safe late on but Formosa failed to score with only the goalkeeper to beat. Zerafa's men had a couple of other chances to score but were thwarted by Brincat. The stand-in keeper may have been at fault in two of Qormi's goals but regained confidence as the match wore on to keep Marsa in the hunt.

Marsa: K. Brincat, J. Rizzo, S. Cutajar, D. Vella, I. Borg, J. Dalli (C. Sacco), J.P. Zammit, K. Cassar, J. Achokwu, K. Xerri, W. Chircop.

Qormi: M. Farrugia, M. Borg, K. Zammit, D. Zuccaro, C. Camoin, J. Francica, J. Saliba (M. Borg Olivier), J. Farrugia, J. Chetcuti (A. Debono), C. Formosa, L. Grima (B. Fenech).

Referee: Adrian Casha.

Man of the match: Carmel Formosa (Qormi).