Pieta Hotspurs 1
Żurrieq 0

Pieta Hotspurs, who had sealed promotion a few weeks back, yesterday made sure of going up as Division One champions following a hard-earned win over Żurrieq.

Noel Coleiro’s side sorely missed the absence of striker Raphael Kooh Sohna but, in the end, they were still good enough to do a double over the Reds following the 2-0 win of the first round.

Pieta were first to try their luck with a Jonathan Zarate grounder, the ball striking the upright. A minute later, a Kyle Cesare header from a corner just missed Żurrieq goal.

The Hotspurs held the upperhand and forged ahead on 21 minutes when Ricardo Costa Velludo Varella headed home from a Cain Attard cross from the right.

Zurrieq tried to hit back but it was their keeper Jeremy Alden who kept them in the match with a fine save on a Jeremiah Ani volley.

At the other end, Pieta keeper David Cassar made a remarkable save when stopping a Joseph Ogunnupe dipper with the ball destined to hit the net.

Pieta started the second half on the attack and early on an Andrew Spiteri drive just missed the target.

Karl Magro headed just wide for Żurrieq from a corner and Cassar came out to block Agbe-obina who had sped through unimpeded. After that the Hotspurs closed all avenues to their goal to seal three points that yielded them the title.

Pieta: D. Cassar, T. Agius (C. Cassar), O. Anonam, C. Attard, K. Cesare, C. Grech, J. Pisani, A. Spiteri (Q. Refalo), R. Velludo Varella, J. Zarate, J. Ani (D. Agius).

Żurrieq: J. Alden, M. Mifsud, K. Sacco, S. Giglio, K. Magro, J. Garnier, D. Darmanin, M. Cocks (S. Azzopardi), A. Agius (M. Schembri), O.L. Agbeobina, J. Ogunnupe (R. Alonso Alves).

Referee: Matthew Degabriele.

Man of the match: Jonathan Zarate (Pieta Hotspurs).

St Andrew’s 2
Żebbuġ Rangers 1

Żebbuġ failed to register the win they needed to secure promotion as they went down to St Andrew’s.

Rangers looked the more determined team from the start and took the lead on 10 minutes when Mauricio Britto beat Matthew Towns from inside the box.

Żebbuġ went close to adding another goal but Towns did well to keep out an Anderson Mendes Ribeiro shot.

The Saints started getting more into the picture and on 34 minutes they were unlucky not to equalise when Joseph Farrugia’s shot hit the bar.

Towns denied Britto with another fine save and the Saints drew level soon after the restart with an Emiliano Lattes goal who beat the keeper from well outside the box with a calibrated lob.

St Andrew’s were now playing the better football and Trayo Grozev went on to score the winning goal when he profited from some poor defending inside the Rangers box before placing the ball in the net.

Żebbuġ pushed in attack but it was Grozev who almost scored a third goal for the Saints only to be denied by the alert Justin Spiteri.

St Andrew’s: M. Towns, N. Chetcuti, J. Briscoe White, B. Diacono, J. Farrugia, M. Guillaumier, N. Vella Petroni (J. Walker), E. Lattes (J. Falzon), B. Said, K. Nwoko, T. Grozev.

Żebbuġ: J. Spiteri, L. Galea, R. Mandic, Y. Camilleri, M. Gauci (B. Chetcuti), M. Farrugia, T. Paris, C. Gauci (O. Rababah), A. Tabone, M. Britto, A. Mendes Ribeiro (D. da Silva Silveira).

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Man of the match: Emiliano Lattes (St Andrew’s).