Birżebbuġa St Peter’S 2

Pieta Hotspurs 1

Patrick Curmi’S First Match On The Birżebbuġa Bench Yesterday Could Not Have Had A Better Outcome For The Southerners As They Toppled Table-Toppers Pieta 2-1 At The Centenary Stadium.

Curmi’S Gameplan Worked Wonders, A Solid Defensive Cover And Hard Running In Midfield Reaped Rich Dividends As Birżebbuġa, Who Also Had Goalkeeper Ivan Casha To Thank, Finally Chalked Up Their First Points After Five Outings.

Pieta Did The Early Running And Casha Did Well To Deny Raphael Kooh Sohna As Efforts From Larsson Mallia And Quilin Refalo Were A Whisker Off The Mark.

Birżebbuġa Were Rarely Dangerous In The Opening Stages But Could Have Forged Ahead When Vinicius Periera Dos Santos Was Stopped By Hotspurs Goalkeeper Carlos Dimech After A Measured Thiago Dos Santos Mazzitelli Pass.

The First Half Ended Goalless But Birżebbuġa Opened The Score Eight Minutes After The Break When Kevin Borg Squeezed The Ball Home From A Jurgen Farrugia Cross.

Pieta Hit Back Strongly And Drew Level 10 Minutes Later With A Goal From Christian Grech Who Headed Home A Mallia Corner.

Casha Saved His Side When Keeping Out Kooh Sohna’S Back-Heeler And On 78 Minutes Refalo Saw His Lob Cleared Off The Line By Substitute Dillion Pace.

A Draw Was Looming On The Horizon But Nine Minutes From Time Mazzitelli’S Free-Kick From 25 Metres Out Left Dimech Helpless.

Casha Again Came To His Side’S Rescue In Stoppage Time As Pieta Surged Forward In Attack And Cleavon Cassar Ran Into Space But His Effort Was Kept Out By The Alert Birżebbuġa Keeper.

Birżebbuġa: I. Casha, K. Spiteri, J. Farrugia, P. Camilleri, R. Mintoff, F. Peplow, K. Borg (M. Mifsud), V. Pereira Dos Santos, Z. Vuckovic (G. Tanti), M. Camilleri (D. Pace), T. Dos Santos Mazzitelli.

Pieta: C. Dimech, C. Spiteri, C. Grech (S. Micallef), Q. Refalo, R. Kooh Sohna, T. Agius (K. Cesare), L. Mallia, C. Cassar, J. Zarate, I. Grech, K. Cutajar (J. Pisani).

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Man Of The Match: Ivan Casha (Birżebbuġa).

Maroons Win

Mqabba1

Gzira United 2

Veteran Simon Shead Showed He Is Still One Of The Most Lethal Strikers In The Local Game When He Scored A Late Winner For Gżira United To Secure Their First Victory Of The Season And Move Off The Drop Zone.

The Maroons Had Steven Meilak And Caio Garcia Suguino In Fine Form While Alfred Effiong, Although Working Hard, Found Life Difficult Upfront As He Was Tightly Marked.

Gżira Produced Their First Real Threat At Mqabba’S Goal On Ten Minutes From Which They Also Forged Ahead. Jimmy Hussey Started The Move And Meilak Nodded Down Outside The Area For Garcia Suguino To Let Fly A Volley That Lifted The Mqabba Net.

Shead Missed A Sitter When He Drove The Ball Wide With Only Goalkeeper Kris Calleja To Beat.

However, Mqabba Staged A Reaction On 28 Minutes And Emiliano Lattes Let Fly A Scorcher That Gave Simon Agius No Chance And The Scores Became Level Again.

Lattes Was His Team’S Driving Force. Soon After The Restart His Shot Ended Inside The Side-Netting Following A One-Two Move Andrew Caligari. At The Other End, Garcia Suguino Should Have Done Better When Freed By Shead With The Brazilian Shooting Weak And Straight At The Goalkeeper.

Both Teams Went All Out In Search Of A Late Winner But There Were Few Clear-Cut Chances.

William Abeeb Sprinted Past Two Gżira Men But His Grounder Was Stopped By Agius.

Then, Seven Minutes From Time, Shead Rose High To Head Home A Pierre Grima Delivery From The Left To Give Gżira Three Precious Points.

Mqabba: K. Calleja, A. Scicluna, C. Cutajar, J. Anegbe, M.A. Psaila, A. Caligari, D. Azzopardi, M. Bonnici, W. Abeeb (S. Spasov), E. Lattes, O. Buhagiar.

Gżira: S. Agius, H. Gatt Bonello (K. Saliba), P. Grima, A. White, J. Chetcuti, D. Cachia, C. Garcia Suguino, J. Hussey (Y. Tonna), S. Shead, A. Effiong, A. Meilak.

Referee: Fiodor Zammit.

Man Of The Match: Caio Garcia Suguino (Gzira United).