Scerri strikes early to boost erratic City

Msida St Joseph 0
Valletta 1
Scerri 19

A first-half goal from Terrence Scerri steered Valletta back to winning ways after they edged past lowly Msida St Joseph yesterday.

Although the final scoreline may suggest that this was a hard-fought win for the Citizens, in reality Ton Caanen's charges should have won more comfortably given the countless chances they created. However, Valletta were let down by the poor finishing of their forwards.

Valletta almost paid dearly for their wastefulness when, in a rare attack, Msida almost drew level as Tyrone Farrugia's shot hit the upright.

In the end, Valletta managed to hold on to their narrow win to close the gap on leaders Qormi and Birkirkara to two points.

Caanen was forced to make two changes from the team that lost to Sliema Wanderers last Sunday as skipper Gilbert Agius was serving the first of a two-match ban while Irish striker Declan O'Brien was unavailable. Jamie Pace and Edmond Agius returned to City's starting line-up.

Keith Gouder was taking charge of his first match as Msida St Joseph coach after replacing Mark Marlow. Zoran Levnaic, who is having a trial abroad, was still absent while Adrian Farrugia failed to recover from a knee injury.

Valletta made their attacking intentions clear from the outset. After six minutes, Steve Borg sped clear on the right before finding Scerri at the near post but his flick hit the side-netting.

The Citizens suffered a blow on 10 minutes when Roderick Briffa limped out injured. Cleaven Frendo, whose proposed loan move to Tarxien was called off at the last minute, came on for Briffa.

Msida were struggling to contain the pace of Priso on the left but nonetheless the Citizens had to wait until the 20th minute to break the deadlock.

Priso surged into the box from the left and evaded two defenders before serving Scerri who tapped home via the base of the near post.

Msida's response arrived on 26 minutes. Miguel Ciantar was given time and space in the City area but his low drive was pushed away by goalkeeper Andrew Hogg.

The Citizens threatened again nine minutes from the break. They won a free-kick just outside the area but Frendo's low strike finished just wide.

Ciantar remained Msida's most dangerous player and in first-half stoppage time, the young winger sped into the City area but his diagonal shot flew wide with Hogg beaten.

There were no changes at the interval as the Citizens came out seeking a second goal. Two minutes into the second half, Priso found Kevin Sammut in the area and the midfielder brushed aside two defenders but his effort was too central to bother Manuel Bartolo.

On 55 minutes, Scerri pounced on a poor goal-kick from Bartolo but his effort was easily blocked by the Msida no. 1.

Two minutes later, Bartolo, inexplicably, charged out of his goal as Scerri controlled the ball just outside the area. The Valletta forward's shot beat the Msida goalkeeper but luckily Lydon Micallef charged back to clear the danger.

On the hour, Msida came close to levelling matters when Farrugia's long-range drive beat Hogg but came off the upright before the Citizens cleared.

Two minutes later, Sammut's pass put Scerri through but his firm drive was touched away by Bartolo. A minute later, the Msida custodian dived to his left to keep out Priso's grounder.

Nineteen minutes from time, Priso again used his speed to burst past three defenders but his strike flew wide.

Valletta kept pushing forward and on 77 minutes, Priso again passed to Scerri whose rising shot flew over.

Six minutes from time another Priso delivery found Sammut whose low shot beat Bartolo but Roderick Baldacchino was on hand to hook the ball away.

Valletta continued to create chances but they couldn't score a second goal. A minute from time, Scerri laid the ball to Priso whose volley hit the side-netting.

Msida St Joseph
M. Bartolo-7, C. Sciberras-6, A. Spiteri-6.5 ('80 J. D'Amato), K. Mifsud-6, W. Gabriels-4.5 ('87 A. Formosa), E. Lattes-5, R. Baldacchino-6, L. Micallef-6, M. Ciantar-6, T. Farrugia-6.5, M. Borda-6.

Valletta
A. Hogg-6, R. Briffa ('10 C. Frendo-6 ('83 D. Grima), S. Bezzina-6, K. Scicluna-6, L. Dimech-6, E. Agius-6, D. Priso-7, K. Sammut-6.5 ('88 D. Falzon), J. Pace-6, T. Scerri-6, S. Borg-6.

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Yellow cards: Sciberras; Frendo; Scicluna; Farrugia; Falzon; Micallef.

BoV player of the match: Doding Priso (Valletta).