Mosta stay in the hunt as Msida go down

Mosta 4
Msida St Joseph 0

Mosta kept their promotion hopes alive after thrashing bottom side Msida St Joseph who have been mathematically relegated to Division Two.

Simon Shead stole the show for Mosta as he marked a lively performance with a hat-trick.

A minute from the start had elapsed when Msida goalkeeper Simon Firth effected a fine save to keep out Shead’s grounder following a Nikola Bogdanovic cross.

Mosta continued to attack without troubling their opponents. They had to wait until the half hour to create another dangerous effort, and again the Msida custodian saved well from Lee Grima.

A minute before the break, Mosta got the breakthrough when Shead hit home following a good move between Jonathan Holland and Alex Cini.

Mosta doubled their lead on 50 minutes when Shead’s run into the Msida box was stopped by Firth. The ball fell to Grima who tapped it into the net. The Blues increased their lead on 59 minutes when Shead scored from Camenzuli’s cross.

Mosta made it 4-0 a minute from time when Shead lobbed the ball over the advancing Msida goalkeeper after being released by Grima.

Mosta: J. Debono, M. Brincat, K. Farrugia (F. Aboulezz), V. Osobu, L. Grima, A. Cini, J. Holland, N. Bogdanovic (Q. Bregman), K. Spiteri, W. Camenzuli (R. Deguara), S. Shead.

Msida: S. Firth, J. Brincat, G. Refalo, M. Borda, R. Xuereb (C. Brincat), P. Sakchai (D. Vassallo), L. Micallef, L. Cassar, M. Grech, K. Saliba, M. Harper.

Referee: Trustan Farrugia Cann.

Man of the match: Simon Shead (Mosta).

Melita 1
St Andrew’s 1

Melita missed the chance to strengthen their promotion push after being held to a one-all draw by rivals St Andrew’s.

Martin Gregory’s side are third in the table on 23 points but have played a game more than Mqabba and the other promotion candidates.

The game only came to life in the second half as both sides pressed for the win.

The first 45 minutes were drab. Melita, the more-quoted side of the two, were a shadow of their usual selves as they struggled to get into their usual rhythm.

In the 18th minute, St Andrew’s produced the first chance when Nicky Vella Petroni drove the ball wide from an acute angle following a Michael Valenzia’s free-kick.

Four minutes from half-time, Kurt Coleiro tried his luck from the edge of the area with the ball finishing just wide. A minute later, the Saints forged ahead when Jonathan Briscoe White latched on to a long ball from defence and made the most of Melita’s slack defending by slotting the ball home.

Melita equalised just before the break when Julian Galea headed home a Luke Micallef cross.

Four minutes into the second half, Melita threatened to go ahead. Matthew Borg profited from Neil Chetcuti’s failure to clear but his initial effort was pushed away by the on-rushing Filippo Carandente, the St Andrew’s goalkeeper. The ball came back to Borg but he hesitated and the chance was lost.

Scoring chances were proving hard to come by but with 10 minutes left, Luke Micallef missed a sitter for Melita after being put through by Maxime Batel’s pass. Micallef was unmarked but his hesitancy allowed the alert Carandente to retrieve the ball.

With two minutes to go, Coleiro fluffed a golden opportunity for the Saints as he shot high and wide from just inside the area. Two minutes later, Coleiro received from McAvoy but his effort from five metres out was magnificently saved by Zahra.

A minute into stoppage time, Melita had Nigel Rizzo sent off after he earned a second yellow card for a foul on Emilio Carnago San Pedro. In the dying moments, Carnago San Pedro’s drive took a deflection with the ball just missing the target.

Melita: K. Zahra, R. Alinho, L. Martinelli, G. Gribbon, M. Cachia (K. Micallef), S. Galea (N. Rizzo), M. Borg, J. Galea, E. Carnago San Pedro, L. Micallef, M. Fenech (M. Batel).

St Andrew’s: F. Carandente, N. Chetcuti, A. Camilleri Kamsky, R. Hartvig, J. Bugeja, M. Valenzia, J. Briscoe White, A. Faisal (W. Camilleri), N. Vella Petroni (M. Grima), P. Briscoe White (D. McAvoy), K. Coleiro.

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.

Man of the match: Karl Zahra (Melita).