Melita edge closer to promotion

Melita 3
Mosta 2

Nicolo Baldacchino came off the bench to score two crucial goals in Melita’s victory over other promotion contenders Mosta yesterday. The Amateurs are now joint second in the standings along with Mqabba, a point ahead of Mosta. With three teams getting promoted this season their dream looks likely to become a reality.

Melita looked the livelier side in the initial stages and it was no surprise that they forged ahead after four minutes when captain Michael Martin rose high to head in a Maxime Batel corner.

But it did not take Mosta too long to draw level and on 10 minutes a Carlos Camenzuli shot was half cleared by Melita and from the rebound Gilbert Martin hit home a scorcher.

The Blues improved after their goal and Victor Osobu should have done better when the Melita rearguard was caught napping but George Gribbon reacted in time to clear the ball off Mosta’s Englishman.

Melita were close to adding a second but keeper Jonathan Debono made a superb save to deny Julian Galea as the game continued to be played at a fast pace.

Martin was giving the Melita defence a hard time as the Amateurs had Rudi Alinhio to thank for some timely tackles.

Simon Shead found space inside the Melita box but lobbed the ball poorly with only the keeper to beat. But the Mosta striker made up for that mistake six minutes from half-time when he slotted the ball in after a perfect pass from the agile Osobu.

Mosta were seeing more of the ball as the second half got underway but Melita were the most dangerous team. Right on the hour, Debono did well to keep out a Luke Micallef shot after a perfect combination with Kane Micallef.

Luke Micallef hit just wide after some good work by substitute Baldacchino and, at the other end, Osobu was released by Camenzuli but hit badly with an open way to Melita’s goal.

The Amateurs drew level on 73 minutes. A Martin pass fell invitingly to Baldacchino who beat the offside trap and cooly placed the ball beyond Debono’s reach.

Mosta looked jaded and Camenzuli cleared the ball off the line with Luke Micallef looking odds on to score.

Debono effected two fine saves off efforts from Kane Micallef and Martin before Baldacchino scored the winner on 90 minutes, blasting the ball home after breaking free from his marker inside the Mosta box.

Melita: K. Zahra, R. Alinhio, L. Martinelli, G. Gribbon, A. Caruana Scicluna (N. Baldacchino), M. Martin, M. Borg (K. Vella Petroni), J. Galea, E. Carnago San Pedro, L. Micallef, M. Batel (K. Micallef).

Mosta: J. Debono, K. Farrugia, V. Osobu (L. Micallef), M. Briggs, G. Martin (R. Deguara), A. Cini, N. Bogdanovic, B. Agius, K. Spiteri (M. Brincat), W. Camenzuli, S. Shead.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Man of the match: Nicolo Baldacchino (Melita).

Mqabba held

Msida St Joseph 1
Mqabba 1

Mqabba dropped crucial points in the race for promotion to the Premier League as they were surprisingly held to a 1-1 by the already-doomed Msida.

This was Msida’s first point of the season after 15 consecutive losses as Mqabba were awful and surely missed their inspirational striker John Paul Muscat.

After a dull opening, Mqabba forged ahead on the half-hour mark when a Wilson Caushi free-kick beat Msida’s Daniel Borda with the ball rolling under the goalkeeper’s chest.

Mqabba looked to be cruising as they upped their game and were also unlucky when Pierre Grima’s free-kick hit the crossbar.

Msida were not letting up though and on 53 minutes Phiram Sakchai squeezed the ball home after some careless defending by Mqabba.

Msida’s goal put Mqabba under pressure and despite their attacking play they rarely threatened Borda.

It was only in the final stages that Mqabba should have bagged all the points. A good move between David Azzopardi and Marlon Briffa was finished off by Claudio Calleja whose header finished just wide.

Then, Mqabba were really unlucky when they hit a second post. It was Branislav Timotic whose header crashed against the upright following a Calleja free-kick.

Mqabba continued to push forward but did not manage to find the breakthrough they needed with the last goal-scoring opportunity coming courtesy of a James Shead header that fell outside the desired target.

Msida: D. Borda, M. Borda, L. Micallef, R. Xuereb (M. Grech), L. Cassar, P. Sakchai, K. Saliba (D. Hili), N. Curmi, C. Zammit (L. Micallef), M. Jackson Harper, G. Refalo.

Mqabba: K. Calleja, P. Grima, A. Scicluna, B. Timotic, M. Briffa, D. Azzopardi, T. Mazitelli (A. Cakigi), I. Curmi (C. Calleja), W. Caushi, J. Shean, S. Magro.

Referee: Mohammed Khaleed.

Man of the match: Daniel Borda (Msida St Joseph).