Mqabba held, Lija win

Mqabba 0
Melita 0

Mqabba dropped two precious points in their quest for promotion and also failed to catch up with St George’s in second place as they had to settle for a 0-0 with a spirited Melita team yesterday.

Martin Gregory’s Amateurs were well worth their point in a game that was mainly played in midfield with both sets of defences coming out on top in the encounter. Mqabba played the last 18 minutes with a man down as defender Mauro Bonnici was sent off.

The first scoring chance of the match fell Melita’s way when after only a few minutes Rudi Alinhio released Emilio Cornago. He delivered a perfect ball to George Gribbon whose header was stopped by keeper Kris Calleja.

Melita were seeing more of the ball in the early stages and on 15 minutes a Cornago effort finished just wide.

However, as the minutes ticked by Mqabba started to get more into the picture and on 22 minutes they missed a golden opportunity to break the deadlock when Thiago dos Santos Mazitelli, with only Melita keeper Karl Zahra to beat, hit wide.

Minutes later it was Mqabba, again, who went close when a Marlon Briffa grounder just missed the target. At the other end, a Gribbon drive was cleared off the line by David Azzopardi, with the ball finishing into the hands of Calleja.

On resumption, it was Melita who looked the more dangerous team and a Luke Micallef solo move finished with the same player hitting out of range.

The tempo slowed down even though on 64 minutes Melita had another good chance when substitute Tobias Terpougoff powered his way through before hitting an inviting pass into the path of Julian Galea only for the latter to be anticipated by the quick-thinking Calleja.

Mqabba hit back immediately and Advan Cakigi had a shot going out and minutes later a Mazitelli drive hit the Melita woodwork.

Mqabba suffered a blow on 72 minutes when they had Bonnici sent off for a second booking.

Melita nearly profited soon after when a Terpougoff cross caused panic inside the Mqabba box and Pierre Grima almost committed an own goal. But that was that and both teams returned home with a point in the bag.

Mqabba: K. Calleja, P. Grima, M. Bonnici, A. Scicluna, J. Debattista (C. Calleja), M. Briffa (S. Magro,), D. Azzopardi, T. dos Santos Mazitelli, J.P. Muscat, V. Causchi, A. Cakigi.

Melita: K. Zahra, R. Alinhio, L. Martinelli, G. Gribbon, M. Martin, M. Borg, M. Batel (M. Fenech), N. Baldacchino Orland (T. Terpougoff), J. Galea (M. Cachia), E. Cornago, L. Micallef.

Referee: Mario Apap.

Man of the match: Luke Micallef (Melita).

Lija Athletic 3
Pietà Hotspurs 1

Lija Athletic kept their promotion chances alive after doing the double over Pietà, having already beaten them 2-0 this season.

Lija had Antoine Sacco and Marco Potezica causing all sorts of problems for Joe Grech’s Hotspurs as Marco Gerada’s side saw more of the ball and looked the better team.

Lija immediately forged ahead, Potezica’s first-time effort from 35 metres out, leaving Miguel Montfort helpless in goal.

Pietà almost drew level soon after from an inswinging Jurgen Pisani corner but Sean Mintoff was well placed to save at the far post.

On 18 minutes, Lija again went close when Daniel Scerri found Admir Dzanovic whose drive was saved by Montfort. Pietà never threw in the towel and two minutes later Pisani tried his luck from the distance but Mintoff saved.

There were few chances after that but just before the break Bojan Zivkovic hit hard from an acute angle with the Pietà keeper on the right spot to save.

Pietà looked determined to score an equaliser after the break and a Christian Grech drive from the edge of the area almost deceived the keeper.

But Lija doubled their lead on 54 minutes when a perfect one-two between Dzanovic and Potezica finished with the latter hitting home from close range.

Lija could have put the game to bed on the hour. Sacco sprinted into the box and let loose a powerful shot that hit the foot of the post.

Lija looked happy to control proceedings as Pietà were finding it hard to break them down but on 70 minutes Pietà did manage to pull one back, Zach Muscat bundling the ball into the net following a cross from the left.

Pietà then thought they had equalised as a Quilin Refalo first-timer from 30 metres out hit the bar and the loose ball bounced into the hands of Mintoff.

Lija made the game safe on 86 minutes though when Dzanovic’s attempt at goal hit the back of the net without giving any chance for Montfort to save.

Deep into injury time, Mintoff denied Refalo from goal when he made a superb save with the ball looking to have finished at the left-hand corner of the Lija net.

Lija: S. Mintoff, M. Camilleri, A. Saliba, D. Scerri, A. Sacco, M. Potezica, A. Buhagiar, B. Zivkovic (B. Antignolo), A. Scicluna, A. Dzanovic, M. Fleri Soler.

Pietà: M. Montfort, D. Owuo (R. Bandeira), C. Spiteri, B. Sciberras (L. Mallia), Q. Refalo, S. Grech, D. Campos (D. Mifsud), Z. Muscat, J. Pisani, I. Grech, C. Grech.

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Man of the match: Marco Potezica (Lija).