John Nwoba (left) inspired Żebbuġ to a comfortable win over Melita.

Żebbuġ 4
Melita 0

Żebbuġ Rangers ended a 24-year old wait to finally secure promotion to the Premier League.

Jesmond Zammit’s men produced a strong second-half performance to completely overwhelm Melita and seal second place in the standings.

Żebbuġ were off to a strong start as Anderson Ribeiro came close to an opener but directed a header just over.

On 23 minutes, from an Alan Tabone corner, a close-range Mauricio Britto header just missed the target.

Melita continued to defend diligently and Żebbuġ only threatened on the stroke of half-time when Tabone’s effort finished wide while Ribeiro’s shot was blocked by defender Malcolm Mamo.

Three minutes into the second half, Żebbuġ took the lead. Ratko Mandic sped into the area but was upended by Mamo. From the resultant penalty, Tabone drilled his shot past Schranz.

Now it was all Żebbuġ and minutes later they came close again when a Mandic header rattled the crossbar.

The Rangers continued to threaten and on the hour, John Nwoba dribbled past his marker before serving Britto, who, from a good position, hit the ball wide.

Żebbuġ doubled their lead on 70 minutes. Nwoba and Ribeiro combined well to set up Britto who beat Schranz with a low drive.

Ten minutes from time the Rangers hit their third goal when in a swift break, Tabone burst in the area, rounded Schranz before depositing the ball into an empty net.

A minute before the end Żebbuġ sealed the issue when Nwoba wrapped up a magnificent performance when he hit home following a melee inside the area.

Żebbuġ: J. Farrugia, K. Scicluna (C. Gauci), L. Galea, R. Mandic, M. Farrugia, Y. Camilleri, T. Paris, A. Tabone, J. Nwoba, A.M. Ribeiro (M. Gauci), M.R. Britto (D. da Silva Silveira).

Melita: P. Schranz, L. Bianco, M. Borg, M. Mamo, A. Borg Olivier, M. Valenzia (A. Attard), L. Micallef, J. Galea (P. Muscat), N. Rizzo, L. Sammut, K. Coleiro (L. Mifsud).

Referee: Matthew Degabriele.

Man of the match: John Nwoba (Żebbuġ).