Pieta Hotspurs 6
Dingli Swallows 1
Pieta found little difficulty in disposing of Dingli in a match they dominated from start to finish, particularly after Roderick Briffa was red carded very early in the opening half.
The turning point of the match came on 13 minutes when Raphael Kooh Sohna sprinted inside the Dingli box but was grounded by Briffa who conceded a penalty and got sent off.
Quilin Refalo stepped up to send goalkeeper Dunstan Zarb the wrong way from the spot.
Refalo doubled the score three minutes later with a shot from the edge of the area after a short clearance by the Swallows defence.
Dingli seemed down and out as Pieta kept pushing forward.
Kooh Sohna hit wide from an Ishmael Grech pass and Zarb then produced a superb save off a Larson Mallia shot from close distance.
Dingli were all over the field and Zarb again did well to keep out a shot from Kooh Sohna as Grech rattled the Dingli woodwork from a Mallia corner.
In a rare counter-break on 35 minutes, Senior David and Leontiev Konda found space inside the Pieta box with the former burying the ball past Miguel Montfort from close range to unexpectedly pull one back for Dingli.
However, on the stroke of half-time, Kooh Sohna restored Pieta’s two-goal lead after a fine solo move inside opponents’ territory.
Pieta continued where they had left off in the first half.
Cleaven Frendo was foiled by another Zarb save but on 55 minutes the Dingli keeper could do nothing to stop Jonathan Zarate’s free-kick, the ball hitting the bar before reaching the net.
Frendo then made it 5-1 after a strong dash inside the Dingli half and on 90 minutes Pieta were awarded another penalty when Zarb was judged to have held Refalo inside his box.
The keeper was sent off, a harsh decision for some, and Konda went in goal as Dingli had effected all their three substitutions.
Frendo made no mistake from the spot to round up the score and make this an auspicious start for the Hotspurs.
Pieta: M. Montfort, C. Spiteri (A. Spiteri), Q. Refalo, R. Kooh Sohna (J. Pisani), K. Cesare (T. Agius), L. Mallia, C. Cassar, J. Zarate, I. Grech, L. Mutasi, C. Frendo.
Dingli: D. Zarb, K. Pace, R. Briffa, R. Micallef (P. Ciantar), L. Konda, K. Formosa, S. David (D. Cilia), B. Guga, E. Farrugia, E. Grech, L. Micallef (A. Portelli).
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Man of the match: Quilin Refalo (Pieta Hotspurs).