St George’s on top

St George’s 3
Dingli Swallows 0

Brazilian Jonathan Luiz Ruiz enjoyed an encouraging debut as St George’s cruised to a 3-0 victory over Dingli Swallows to go top of the Division One table with six points from two games.

St George’s twice went close to taking the lead in the opening 15 minutes. Dylan Zarb released Glenn Bonello but the latter’s drive was saved by Jeffrey Farrugia.

Bonello missed a glorious opportunity on 15 minutes. Running on to a pass from Ruiz, Bonello blasted high and wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Joey Falzon’s side opened the scoring on 27 minutes. Ruiz robbed Stefano Zampa of the ball on the right and passed to Gary Inguanez who crossed for Zarb. The former Valletta winger raced into the box and lobbed the ball home.

Dingli responded nine minutes from half-time, Roderick Briffa hitting a curler with the ball just missing the target. But St George’s retained control of midfield while their strikers were proving a handful to the Dingli defenders with their intelligent movement off the ball.

It was no surprise that St George’s put the game to bed 19 minutes from time when Bonello played a perfect pass to Ruiz who showed great poise and composure as he chipped the ball over the onrushing Farrugia.

Bolstered by their two-goal lead, St George’s went for the kill. They won a penalty six minutes from time when Zampa tripped Ruiz in the box. Bonello hit home from the spot to seal the Saints victory.

St George’s: T. Galea, A. Bonello, E. Sevasta, G. Bonello (J. Dalli), L. Stivala, D. Zarb, B. Fenech, G. Inguanez, N. Caruana, E. Amaira (M. Barbara), J. L. Ruiz (L. Bonnett).

Dingli: J. Farrugia, S. Zampa, S. Tellus, R. Spiteri, R. Vella, C. Ciappara (N. Attard), K. Formosa, K. Borg (R. Sammut), R. Briffa, C. Azzopardi, J. Chirino.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Man of the match: Jonathan Ruiz (St George’s).