Hotspurs move into safer waters

In the last match from the 14th day of the GFA Division One league, Victoria Hotspurs gained revenge for their two defeats to St Lawrence Spurs in previous rounds with a 4-1 hammering of the bottom team.

This was a direct clash between two struggling teams as the Hotspurs could have easily ended up in relegation trouble had they failed to secure all points at stake. The Citizens are now six points clear of the drop zone.

The Saints were the more enterprising side in the early stages, going close to opening the scoring through a good effort by Hugo Seco. However, as the minutes ticked away, the Hotspurs took control and practically made sure of victory with three goals, all scored late in the first half.

Kalin Ganchev broke the deadlock on 40 minutes when he pounced on a rebound after a Michael Vella shot from the distance had smashed against the bar.

Two minutes later, Osama Madah doubled the Hotspurs’ lead with a low drive following a pass from Oliver Farrugia and Madah, again, made it 3-0 before the half-time whistle after a perfect service from Ganchev.

Ganchev put the Hotspurs 4-0 up on 65 minutes but the Saints redu­ced the arrears from a Seco penalty, awarded for a foul by Justin Agius on Seco himself on 68 minutes.

However, any hopes the Saints might have entertained of saving the match were all but dashed 11 minutes from time when Daniel Micallef was sent off for a foul on Madah.

Division Two

Żebbuġ Rovers consolidated top spot in Division Two with a close win over Għarb Rangers. Victory for the Rovers was a deserved one but Għarb were worthy opponents and remained in contention until the final whistle.

Żebbuġ went ahead on 21 minutes with a Philip Cardona tap-in.

However, they failed to capitalise on their territorial supremacy and Rangers stunned the leaders when Victor John Saliba levelled matters soon after the restart.

Żebbuġ regained the lead with a Mario Azzopardi header from a free-kick but Għarb were not demoralised. Despite playing with 10 players for the last 20 minutes, after Christopher Gafa was red-carded, they continued to push forward in search of a second equaliser.

They almost struck in stoppage time but a Maurice Saliba shot rolled the wrong side of the Rovers’ upright.

In another match, Oratory Youths were surprisingly held to a one-all draw by lowly Qala who chalked up their fourth positive result of the season, even though they’re still without a win after 14 outings.

Benneth Njoku put Qala in front on 16 minutes but Oratory levelled matters nine minutes later from a penalty converted by Dione Lautier.

The Youths tried to apply some pressure on their opponents for the rest of the match but Qala defended stoutly to keep their opponents at bay.