Useful points for Saints as Briggs wins it for Mosta

St Andrew’s 1
Pietà Hotspurs 0

This was a deserved victory for St Andrew’s who leapfrogged Pietà Hotspurs into a safer mid-table position.

The Saints looked the more enterprising side on the pitch as the Hotspurs lacked flair and teamwork. Pietà finished the match with 10 men after Dominic Mifsud was sent off late on.

Wayne Attard’s team were the first to settle down and after a few minutes, Andrew Amato’s free-kick hit the Pietà woodwork. From the rebound, Ronnie Hartvig’s header was stopped by Miguel Montfort.

The Saints were seeing more of the ball but rarely troubled the Pietà goalkeeper. The Hotspurs could have taken the lead on 30 minutes but a crisp Jurgen Pisani shot was saved in two attempts by goalkeeper Alexei Cauchi.

But, St Andrew’s never yielded territory and scored the goal that mattered on 35 minutes when Kurt Coleiro slotted the ball home from close range following a perfect Nicky Vella Petroni ball into the opponents’ box.

Pietà tried to get back into the game. A Pisani shot was saved by the Saints custodian and just before the break Quilin Refalo’s free-kick hit the wall. From the rebound, Zack Muscat’s drive was blocked by the Saints’ rearguard.

On resumption, St Andrew’s again had most of the possession but found it difficult to penetrate defensive lines. The Saints were unlucky not to add a second just past the hour when Coleiro headed into the path of Hartvig whose effort bounced off the post.

Then, it was goalkeeper Montfort who saved the Hotspurs again when he stopped a Faisal Anakua shot from close in.

Pietà were unable to stage a fightback. They were lucky not to concede a second goal on 83 minutes when a Patrick Briscoe White header was cleared off the line by Ryan Mifsud.

Pietà’s woes were compounded late on when Mifsud received a second yellow card and was ordered off the pitch.

St Andrew’s: A. Cauchi, J. Briscoe White, N. Chetcuti, R. Hartvig, M. Borg, M. Valenzia, A. Amato (W. Camilleri), N. Vella Petroni, M. Calleja (P. Briscoe White), F. Anakua, K. Coleiro (M. Desira Buttigieg).

Pietà: M. Montfort, C. Spiteri (J. Azzopardi), R. Mifsud, B. Sciberras, Q. Refalo, S. Grech (T. Agius), Z. Muscat, C. Cassar (C. Grech), J. Pisani, D. Mifsud, I. Grech.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Man of the match: Andrew Amato (St Andrew’s).

Mosta 3
Melita 2

Mark Briggs saved the day for promotion hopefuls Mosta who looked to have thrown away a two-goal lead against the sprightly Melita. With four minutes to go, Mosta won a free-kick and Briggs scored with a sizzling shot to give the Blues a 3-2 win.

Mosta made a strong start. They pushed forward in numbers in search of an early breakthrough. In the fourth minute, Gilbert Martin’s close-range effort just missed the target and a minute later, Simon Shead was denied by Melita goalkeeper Karl Zahra.

Mosta opened the scoring after 13 minutes thanks to Martin who finished off a fine move by lobbing the ball over Zahra from the edge of the area.

It was one-way traffic in those early stages as Mosta continued to attack the Melita rearguard. On 22 minutes, Briggs had a free-kick saved by Zahra. Two minutes later, Mosta moved 2-0 up when, following a quick counter-attack, Victor Osobu was floored in the box by Matthew Borg. Briggs made it 2-0 from the spot.

Melita staged an immediate reaction. They reduced the arrears on the half-hour mark when Rudi Alinho’s long-range free-kick had the better of Jonathan Debono. Mosta went close to restoring their two-goal lead but Adrian Borg headed just wide from William Camenzuli’s free-kick.

Four minutes before the break, Mosta striker Shead just missed the target.

Melita managed to equalise on 53 minutes and what a goal it was. Julian Galea made a surging run on the right before crossing for Nigel Rizzo whose first-time effort looked to have been blocked by the Mosta custodian but the Melita striker drove home from the rebound.

Melita were dangerous again two minutes later when Rizzo’s first-timer took a deflection but Debono saved.

Mosta responded on 57 minutes when Lee Grima’s drive was saved for a corner by Zahra and, six minutes later, Osobu fired high and wide.

With four minutes left on the clock, Mosta were awarded a free-kick. Briggs stepped up to take it and curled the ball magnificently into the top corner.

Melita might have equalised when defender George Gribbon advanced on the right after beating a couple of defenders but he blasted wide with only Debono to beat.

Mosta: J. Debono, A. Borg, K. Farrugia, M. Brincat, W. Camenzuli, N. Bogdanovic (B. Agius), M. Briggs, L. Grima, G. Martin, S. Shead (J. Bajada), V. Osobu (F. Aboulezz).

Melita: K. Zahra, R. Alinho, L. Martinelli, G. Gribbon, A. Caruana Scicluna (M. Martin), M. Borg (K. Vella Petroni), N. Rizzo, J. Galea, L. Micallef, S. Galea (N. Baldacchino), M. Batel.

Referee: Paul Apap.

Man of the match: Mark Briggs (Mosta).