Rabat Ajax 3
Melita 0

Rabat finished their first-round commitments in top form yester-day after hammering fellow promotion hopefuls Melita 3-0 at the Tedesco Stadium.

Silvio Vella’s team are now five points clear of third-placed Melita and joint-top with Pietà. The latter, however, have a game in hand.

The early minutes were a testing period for both sides. Melita had a Tobias Terpougoff shot saved by Sean Mintoff and Rabat hitting back with an Adam Smeir grounder that was stopped by Matthew Sapiano.

On 23 minutes, Luke Micallef was thwarted by Mintoff following a move by Terpougoff and Michael Martin inside the Rabat half.

Arlindo Rustemi missed a sitter when blasting wide after dribbling past Sapiano but the Magpies opened the score on 32 minutes thanks to a Micallef goal from a Rustemi centre.

Rabat held Melita back and just before the break Matthew Borg beat his marker before firing past Sapiano to make it 2-0.

The Magpies should have had a penalty when Micallef was impeded by Karl Vella Petroni inside the box but the referee waved play on.

However, Rabat sealed the points on 66 minutes.

Smeir’s back-heeler found Rus-temi whose shot took a deflection off Borg and into the back of Sapiano’s net.

Melita hit back and came close when Terpougoff’s effort hit the upright and from the rebound Martin was denied by Mintoff.

The Amateurs tried hard, at least for a consolation goal, but at the other end Justin Felice should have made it 4-0 but fumbled his chance with only Sapiano to beat.

In stoppage time, Melita’s Luke Sammut was sent off for a foul on Rustemi.

Rabat: S. Mintoff, N. Caruana, C. Schembri, J. Cornforth, J. Caruana, A. Smeir, A. Rustemi, D. Falzon, C. Muscat, Y. Cauchi (W. Borg), R. Micallef (J. Felice).

Melita: M. Sapiano, T. Terpougoff (L. Sammut), M. Cachia (D. Gravino), M. Martin, M. Borg, K. Micallef, J. Galea, M. Valencia, L. Micallef, K. Vella Petroni, J. Vukanic.

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Man of the match: Arlindo Rustemi (Rabat Ajax).

Birżebbuġa 1
Dingli Swallows 2

Dingli continued with their good run of form to move to safer waters.

They were surely the better side and in Carlos Porcari the Swallows have a prized asset.

Dingli dictated matters for most of the opening half only for their finishing to let them down as Birżebbuġa’s first real chance came on 35 minutes when defender Francis Owusu blocked in time after Matthew Sciortino had tried to hit home from close in.

At the end of the first half, Dingli pinned their opponents into their own area. Leontiev Konda should have done better after a perfect ball from Kurt Formosa and Porcari’s free-kick rattled the post.

But Dingli were not to be denied and in added time Porcari found space inside the opponents’ box to ram the ball home following a melee.

Birżebbuġa improved after the break but Dingli were coping well with their opponents’ long-ball strategy.

Then, on 62 minutes, Mead Mifsud’s scorcher beat goal-keeper Jeffrey Sammut and theball dropped on the line after hitting the bar. The assistant referee deemed that the shot had gone in and the goal was given amid heavy Dingli protests.

But Birżebbuġa’s joy was short-lived as four minutes later Porcari, again, latched on to a Formosa pass and coolly slotted the ball home to make it 2-1.

Ronnie Celeste found space in the box but hit badly from a good position and 13 minutes from time the same Birżebbuġa captain and Dingli’s Roderick Briffa were sent off for an off-the-ball argument.

Birżebbuġa: I. Casha, K. Borg, M. Pullicino, F. Schneider, D. Baldac-chino, G. Tanti, M. Mifsud, D. Milovic (L. Grima), B.E. Onuta (P. Camilleri), R. Celeste, M. Sciortino (B. Marev).

Dingli: J. Farrugia, F. Owusu, K. Pace, A. Portelli, L. Konda, M. Brincat (C. Azzopardi), K. Formosa, E. Farrugia (P. Ciantar), C. Porcari, R. Vella (J. Sapiano), R. Briffa.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Man of the match: Carlos Porcari (Dingli Swallows).