Swallows heap more misery on Saints

Dingli Swallows 5
Zarb 30, 90; Da Silva 34 pen. Okonkwo 51 pen., 53
Msida St Joseph 2
T. Farrugia 66; Formosa 82

Dingli Swallows finally gained some satisfaction when they hit five past Msida St Joseph in a clash between the two relegated teams.

With their fate already sealed, Msida and Dingli took to the field yesterday bidding to restore some lost pride. In the end, it was Dingli who came out on top when they outplayed the Saints to chalk up only their second win of the campaign.

For Msida, yesterday's upset capped a miserable weekend after they had been mathematically demoted on Saturday following Floriana's 1-0 win over Ħamrun Spartans.

While Jesmond Zammit, the Dingli coach, had a full squad at his disposal, the same cannot be said of Msida coach Keith Gouder who was without Argentine striker Emiliano Lattes, who has returned home, and the unavailable Kalenga Ndayi while Roderick Baldacchino was sick.

Played at a virtually empty National Stadium, the match offered very little entertainment in the early stages.

The only chance in the opening 15 minutes came Msida's way when Tyrone Farrugia released Miguel Ciantar but the young striker fired just wide.

Dingli's response arrived four minutes later when Andre Rocha Da Silva powered forward before rifling a fierce low drive that was blocked in two attempts by Manuel Bartolo.

At the other end, Charlie Black crossed the ball into the path of Joseph D'Amato who saw his effort come off the upright.

The stalemate was broken on the half hour when Da Silva teed up Dylan Zarb who produced a firm drive that gave no chance to Bartolo.

Buoyed by this goal, Dingli sensed they could inflict further damage on their opponents and four minutes later, they doubled their lead. Da Silva was floored in the area by Lydon Micallef and the Brazilian sent Bartolo the wrong way from the penalty spot to make it 2-0.

Dingli almost made it 3-0 on 42 minutes when Okonkwo sped into the Msida area but was dispossessed by Borda with the ball rolling just past the upright.

At half-time, Gouder withdrew Black and roped in Kurt Grech who took a defensive role as Tyrone Farrugia moved into midfield.

However, Grech's outing only lasted five minutes as the youngster was sent off after pushing Da Silva in the area as the Brazilian was clean through on goal. This came after 51 minutes.

Okonkwo took the penalty this time, beating Bartolo with a low shot.

The Swallows kept coming for more and two minutes later Etienne Farrugia picked Okonkwo in the area and the Nigerian had little difficulty slipping the ball past Bartolo.

Msida were nowhere to be seen and on 59 minutes Farrugia was unlucky to see his lob come off the bar.

The Saints managed to pull a goal back on 66 minutes when Tyrone Farrugia unleashed a scorching drive that gave Farrugia no chance.

Referee Kevin Azzopardi awarded the third penalty of the match on 69 minutes when Roderick Spiteri was felled in the area by Micallef but this time Bartolo denied Okonkwo with a diving save.

Eight minutes from time, Msida narrowed the deficit to two goals when Andrew Formosa's shot from inside the area rolled past the diving Farrugia.

In stoppage time, Zarb wrapped up Dingli's win when he was tapped Kevin Borg's free-kick into the net.

Dingli Swallows
J. Farrugia-6, R. Briffa-6.5 ('82 C. Caruana), R. Conceicao-6.5, S. Tellus-6.5, R. Spiteri-6.5, K. Formosa-7, E. Farrugia-6.5 ('72 C. Sammut), K. Borg-7, A. Rocha Da Silva-7 ('87 D. Camilleri), J. Okonkwo-6.5, D. Zarb-7.

Msida St Joseph
M. Bartolo-6, L. Micallef-4, M. Borda-5, A. Farrugia-4.5, B. Borg-4 ('65 L. Agius-4), J. D'Amato-4 ('77 D. Debono), Z. Levnaic-5, T. Farrugia-6, C. Black-5.5 ('46 K. Grech), M. Ciantar-5, A. Formosa-5.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Conceicao; Formosa.

Red card: Grech (M) 51.

Missed penalty: Okonkwo (D) 69.

BOV player of the match: Joseph Okonkwo (Dingli).