Msida's second-half comeback thwarts Dingli

Msida St Joseph 3
Kalenga 51, Conceicao 70 og
Ciantar 86
Dingli Swallows 2
Cachia 9, Okonkwo 45

Msida fought back from two goals down to beat Dingli in an entertaining Relegation Pool match at the Hibs Stadium.

Dino Cachia and Joseph Okonkwo looked to have put Dingli on course for a much needed victory with goals before the interval.

But Ndayi Kalenga crucially scored just after the break. An own goal by Renato Conceicao put Msida back into the game and Miguel Ciantar gave the Saints the three points just when it looked like Dingli would hold on.

Msida, without first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo and Adrian Farrugia, were barely in evidence as an attacking force in the opening period.

They were reduced to the occasional bursts from Emiliano Lattes and Kalenga - while captain Tyrone Farrugia seemed more intent on fighting physical rather than footballing battles in the early stages.

Dingli, who had Andrè Rocha da Silva on the bench, should have gone ahead after seven minutes when Okonkwo sliced a shot horribly wide.

Yet, Msida were not so fortunate moments later when Dino Cachia gave the Swallows a surprise lead.

Some sloppy defending allowed Okonkwo to pick up a flick on by Victor Fiteni on the edge of the box, the Nigerian striker slipped the ball under the body of onrushing Gallen Mifsud and set-up Cachia to score the easiest of goals against his former club as he simply had to turn the ball into an empty net.

Kevin Mifsud had a great chance to equalise on 22 minutes but the midfielder could only acrobatically volley his effort against the post with Jeffrey Farrugia beaten at the other end during a pulsating first half. Few moments later, Okonkwo attempted to compensate for his earlier miss, but, after beating his marker with a powerful right-wing surge, he shot wide with only Mifsud to beat.

On 43 minutes, Roderick Briffa leapt acrobatically to meet a cross on the edge of the area but the ball dipped a fraction over the bar.

A goal at either end seemed a constant possibility and so it proved when Okonkwo finally made amends for his earlier misses.

Dingli debutant Charlon Sammut was the creator as he fed a pinpoint pass to the Nigerian in the 45th minute and the striker curled an excellent shot home with the aid of the post.

Kalenga gave Msida the lift they needed at the start of the second half when he finished spectacularly from close range from Baldacchino's flick.

Msida's pressure was mounting and Ciantar came close with a side-footed effort that glanced off the crossbar to safety four minutes later.

Then it was the turn of Emiliano Lattes who cleverly rounded the keeper only to see his effort cleared off the line for a corner but it was only a brief reprieve for the Swallows.

The transformation in Msida was remarkable, coupled with a sudden lack of urgency from Dingli.

The Saints' recovery was complete after 70 minutes when Renato Conceicao deflected a Kalenga cross-cum-shot into his own net.

Dingli had been penned back for almost the entire second half but they failed to heed the warning signs and they left empty-handed when Roderick Baldacchino's diagonal ball was headed into Ciantar's path by Kalenga and the former Sliema player made no mistake to slot the ball into the net.

Dingli's misery was compounded four minutes from time when substitute Etienne Farrugia received a straight red card for retaliation.

Msida: G. Mifsud-5, L. Micallef-5, M. Borda-5.5, C. Sciberras-5, R. Baldacchino-6, A. Spiteri-6 ('67 I. Curmi-6), K. Mifsud-6.5, T. Farrugia-6.5, E. Lattes-7, M. Ciantar-7, N. Kalenga-7 ('90 A. Formosa).

Dingli: J. Farrugia-6 ('77 I. Cassar), R. Briffa-6.5 ('89 H. Doda), C. Sammut-7, S. Tellus-6, R. Spiteri-6, K. Formosa-5, D. Cachia-6, V. Fiteni-6.5 ('82 E. Farrugia), R. Conceicao-5, J. Okonkwo-6, C. Azzopardi-6.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: R. Spiteri, Micallef, Baldacchino, K. Mifsud.

Red card: E. Farrugia (DS) 86.

BOV player of the match: Emiliano Lattes (Msida St Joseph).