Lija Athletic 1
Pietà Hotspurs 1

Lija seemed on their way to a crucial victory over Pietà Hotspurs when they led their promotion rivals 1-0 with only seconds to play.

However, Raphael Kooh Sohna had other plans as he grabbed a dramatic equaliser to deny the league leaders the three points.

The result left Lija on top, one point ahead of Vittoriosa and two clear of Naxxar and Pietà but the Stars and the Lions could leapfrog Lija if they win their respective matches this weekend.

The opening half was evenly balanced with Pietà twice going close in the early stages.

On 13 minutes Kooh Sohna flicked the ball towards Senior David who saw his drive come off the post. A minute later Kooh Sohna hit a firm volley that finished just over.

But it was Lija who took the lead on 15 minutes. Erjon Beu fed Abdullahi Ige who quickly squared the ball towards Leontiev Kondev who beat Miguel Montfort from close in.

The Hotspurs came more into the picture on the restart and Terrence Agius saw his shot cleared away by Clayton Giordmaina.

On 72 minutes Pietà threatened again when Christian Grech’s volley flew just over.

Seven minutes from time, Dejan Vukovic came to Lija’s recue when he cleared the ball away after goalkeeper Luke Bonnici had partially blocked Kooh Sohna’s cross-shot.

But Pietà were not to be denied and a minute from time, Kooh Sohna beat two defenders and hit the ball into the net to restore equilibrium.

The Hotspurs could have won it in time added on but Bonnici produced a fine save on a firm drive by Jurgen Pisani.

LIJA: L. Bonnici, C. Giordmaina, M. Fleri Soler, D. Scerri, E. Beu, D. Vukovic, L. Konda, E. Briffa, A. Scicluna, B. Antignolo (T. Fleri Soler), A. Ige (A. Sacco).

PIETA: M. Montfort, C. Cassar, R. Kooh Sohna, L. Mallia, S. David, J. Zarate (K. Cutajar), Q. Refalo, T. Agius, C. Grech (L. Mutasi), J. Pisani, A. Spiteri.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Man of the match: Abdullahi Ige (Lija).

Dingli Swallows 4
żejtun Corinthians 3

Dingli produced an astonishing comeback as they came from 3-1 down to beat Żejtun and keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop.

The Swallows are now just three points adrift of third-from-bottom Birżebbuġa St Peter’s who however are still in a strong position as positives results against Gżira United and Mqabba will see them through at the expense of Dingli.

It was Żejtun who controlled proceedings early on and it was no surprise that they took the lead on seven minutes. Josuel Spiteri latched on to Adrian Carabott’s perfect pass to lob the ball over the onrushing Dunstan Zarb.

Four minutes later Żejtun should have doubled their lead when the goalbound Kurt Zahra opted to square the ball towards Carabott who took too much time to conclude and his chance went abegging.

Dingli’s response saw Kain Roomes beat on the run Matthew Pisani but the striker hesitated too much and was blocked.

The Corinthians made it 2-0 soon after when Carabott hit a fine volley that flew past goalkeeper Zarb.

Five minutes into the second half Żejtun threatened again but Spiteri’s attempted lob finished just over.

A minute later Dingli reduced the arrears when Roomes was set free by Tyrone Pace to slot the ball past the onrushing Jurgen Borg.

But Dingli’s joy was short-lived as Carabott sped through and lobbed the ball over Żejtun keeper Borg.

The Swallows refused to lie down and on 55 minutes Roomes outpaced his marker to fire into the net.

It was all Dingli now and they managed to draw level when Christian Muscat headed home from a Michael Borg free-kick.

Żejtun looked stunned and Dingli went on to grab the winner when Roomes exchanged the ball with Sapiano before hitting a low shot past Borg.

DINGLI: D. Zarb, K. Pace (A. Portelli), C. Muscat, T. Pace (I. Bawuah), E. Grech, K. Roomes, J. Pace, D. Cilia, L. Borg (J. Sapiano), M. Borg, L. Micallef.

ŻEJTUN: J. Borg, E. Azzopardi, A. Farrugia, Z. Vukovic, K. Vassallo (J. Cilia), J. Spiteri, K. Zahra (G. Mifsud), K. Abela, D. Mifsud (M. Scicluna), A. Carabott, M. Pisani.

Referee: Andre Arciola.

Man of the Match: Kain Roomes (Dingli).

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.