St George's 2
Tarxien Rainbows 0
Tarxien Rainbows were brought down to earth by mid-table side St George's who handed the leaders their second setback of the season. In fact, Tarxien's last defeat goes back to December 9 when they were trounced 4-1 by Qormi. After that, Noel Coleiro's team went on to win five matches and draw two.
Most of the possession belonged to the Saints who dictated play and moved forward with the ball more purposely than their opponents.
Michael Woods deployed Clayton Caruana in a deeper position than usual and the on-loan winger looked more effective than usual for the Saints.
Tarxien were rarely dangerous up front even though a special mention must be made of St George's defender Heatcliff Schembri who never put a foot wrong during the match.
In the 17th minute, a Caruana cross was headed just wide by the ever-present Peter Anizoba. The side from Cottonera never allowed their opponents any extra space and continued to show the better ideas.
They took the lead in the 37th minute when Glen Barry sprinted into the Tarxien box, passed to the unmarked Anizoba who slammed the ball home from close range.
On resumption, substitute Simon Shead found John Paul Muscat whose shot was kept out by Andrea Gatt.
At the other end, from a swift counter-attack started by Anizoba, Barry tried his luck, the ball was blocked by a defender and Caruana's drive from the rebound just missed the target. Anizoba again showed class to sprint clear of his marker but his scorcher hit the bar.
St George's made it 2-0 on 53 minutes. Ramon Schembri miscued his clearance and Barry had all the time he needed to blast the ball in.
On 57 minutes Tarxien almost conceded another goal following another mistake in their own half. The ball was half-cleared into the path of Mead Mifsud who drove incredible high from 10 metres out.
St George's were well in control though as the only chance the misfiring Rainbows had was from an Angus Buhagiar shot that flew wide.
St George's: A. Gatt, K. Formosa, C. Grech, J. Delia, V. Camilleri, H. Schembri, A. Bonello, P. Anizoba, G. Barry (L. Desira Buttigieg), M. Mifsud (G. Tanti), C. Caruana (L. Agius).
Tarxien: A. Curmi, S. Sadowski, M. Caruana, M. Buttigieg (A. Mangion), O. Grech, E. Mbong, A. Buhagiar, A. Decesare (J. Shead), R. Schembri, J.P. Muscat, M. Borg (S. Shead).
Referee: Jurgen Spiteri.
Man of the match: Heatcliff Schembri (St George's).
Dingli Swallows 2
St Patrick 0
Dingli Swallows moved up to fifth place in the Division One standings after beating troubled St Patrick 2-0 at the Tedesco Stadium yesterday.
The Dingli rearguard was as solid as a rock while veteran Jeremy Agius, together with the striking tandem of Christopher Ciappara and Uchanna Anywanna, were again the main protagonists for the winners.
St Patrick held the upperhand at the initial stages as they tried hard to score an early goal. But the team from Zabbar started to slow the pace after conceding the first goal.
After only seven minutes Haruna Doda found space in the Dingli box but after dribbling past two defenders drove the ball high and wide.
Winston Muscat's side continued to dominate the proceedings and in the 11th minute Simon Zerafa drove the ball over the crossbar from 11 metres out following some good work by Doda on the right flank.
The Saints continued to show the better play and looked odds on to score but on 32 minutes it was Dingli who came close.
Uchanna Anywanna did well to open up the Saints defence, the ball came invitingly to Chris Ciappara whose shot from inside the box was pushed away for a corner by St Patrick keeper David Cassar.
Dingli, however, did take the lead in the 33rd minute when Agius hit a flyer from around 25 metres, the ball took a deflection off Matthew Fleri Soler and into the net to deceive the helpless Cassar.
On resumption, Dingli could have made it 2-0 when Ciappara released Anywanna but the latter missed a sitter as he hit his shot out of range from a good position.
With the Saints only trying to trouble their opponents with long balls towards Doda, it was Dingli who made the game safe on 73 minutes when Etienne Farrugia ran through on the right before hitting an unstoppable shot that left the keeper standing.
Jesmond Zammit's side were never in danger of losing the points with St Patrick only coming close to reducing the arrears five minutes from time when a Doda shot hit the base of the Dingli upright.
Dingli: J. Farrugia, F. Cauchi, R. Spiteri, C. Ciappara (M. Galea), K. Formosa, V. Fiteni (C. Tabone), C. Muscat, J. Agius, J. Cachia, E. Farrugia (E. Casha), U. Anywanna.
St Patrick: D. Cassar, A. Buttigieg, M. Fleri Soler, S. Zerafa, G. Failla (S. Magro), T. Caruana, C. Micallef, H. Doda, B. Bonnici (S. Dimech), V. Camilleri, E. Borg (K. Micallef).
Referee: Karl Frendo Cumbo.
Man of the match: Christopher Ciappara (Dingli Swallows).