Żejtun Corinthians 2
Gudja United 2
All Seemed Lost For Żejtun When With Eight Minutes To Go And Playing With 10 Men They Were Two Goals Down And On The Edge Of Conceding Their Seventh Defeat This Season.
But Diego Cucciardi’S Sub-Stitution Changed Everything And His Introduction Proved Provi-Dential For The Corinthians.
The Initial Stages Produced Very Little Action. Gudja Had Most Of The Possession While Zejtun, Who Had Ranier Farrugia Back In Goal, Looked Happy To Soak Up The Pressure.
The First Real Threat On Goal Came On 28 Minutes When The Unmarked Kiril Aleksandrov Drove The Ball Just Wide From Inside The Żejtun Area.
Żejtun Responded 10 Minutes Later When Ivan Kurtusic Drove The Ball Just Wide Following A Josuel Spiteri Back Header From A Charlo Magro Free-Kick.
Gudja Forged Ahead When Defender Alan Abela Headed Home From A Corner.
On 64 Minutes Żejtun Suffered A Setback When Andre Farrugia Was Sent Off For A Foul On Kurt Azzopardi And Soon After Gudja Doubled Their Lead Thanks To Aleksandrov Who Hit Home From Routine Distance.
But, Then Came Cucciardi And Eight Minutes From Time Kenneth Abela Slotted The Ball Home From Close Range Following An Inviting Ball From The Former Ħamrun Player.
Gudja Seemed Confused And Just Before The Final Whistle Żejtun’S Adrian Carabott Blasted The Ball Home From Inside The Area.
Żejtun: R. Farrugia, E. Azzopardi, A. Farrugia, Z. Vukovic, C. Magro, K. Abela, I. Kurtusic (O. Majtara), D. Mifsud, J. Spiteri, A. Carabott, O. El Ghaouti (D. Cucciardi).
Gudja: M. Xerxen, E. Bugeja, A. Abela, J. Tonna, E. Vella (L. Chircop), K. Azzopardi, N. Alnoudji, D. Cachia, K. Bonello (C. Anton), J.L. Ekobu (P.P. Sammut), K. Aleksandrov.
Referee: Fiodor Zammit.
Man Of The Match: Diego Cucciardi (Żejtun Corinthians).
Dingli Swallows 2
St Andrew’S 1
Dingli Produced A Major Upset When They Beat St Andrew’S To Gain Three Precious Points In Their Fight Against Relegation.
The Result Means The Saints Are Practically Out Of The Promotion Hunt While Robert Magro’S Dingli Are Now Three Points Ahead Of Second-Bottom Birżebbuġa At The Wrong End Of The Standings.
The First Half Was Fast And Furious With Dingli Taking Advantage Of The Wind Which Was Pushing Strong Into The Saints’ Area.
Michael Borg Was Very Active In Such Situations And After 12 Minutes He Saw His Drive Sail Over Matthew Towns’S Goal.
Borg’S Inswinger From Outside The Box Was Turned To A Corner By The Saints’ Keeper.
Dingli Continued To Play The Better Football. Jonathan Pace Dallied His Conclusion From A Good Position And Borg’S Fierce Scorcher Was Parried By Towns.
The Saints Started Coming Out Of Their Shell And On 25 Minutes Trayo Grozev Tried His Luck From The Edge Of The Area But Lifted His Shot Over.
The First Half Ended Goalless But Dingli Struck Soon After The Restart When Isaac Banuah Found Space Before Beating Towns With A Lob.
St Andrew’S Should Have Equalised Soon After As Kerekov Beat The Offside Trap But Drove The Ball Wide With Only The Keeper To Beat.
On 54 Minutes Brian Said Levelled Matters When Zarb Failed To Hold From A Corner, And The Veteran Defender Was On The Right Spot To Place The Ball Inside The Net.
But It Did Not Take Dingli Long To Regain The Lead. In Fact, Three Minutes Later Lyden Micallef Slotted The Ball Home Following A Melee Inside The Opponents’ Box.
St Andrews Again Started Pushing Forward And Tried Their Best To Save The Match But Despite Their Efforts They Only Troubled Zarb With A Series Of Crosses Inside His Box Which The Dingli Keeper Coped With Expertly.
Dingli: D. Zarb, C. Muscat, R. Vella, E. Grech, K. Roomes (J. Anyanwu), K. Formosa, J. Pace, I. Banuah (F. Cauchi), E. Farrugia, M. Borg, L. Micallef.
St Andrew’S: M. Towns, B. Diacono (A. Scerri), J. Briscoe White (M. Grima), W. Camilleri, B. Said, J. Farrugia, M. Hyzler, N. Vella Petroni (M. Desira Buttigieg), P. Anizoba, R. Kerekov, T. Grozev.
Referee: Marco Borg.
Man Of The Match: Michael Borg (Dingli Swallows).