St George’s 1
Lija Athletic 1

St George’s and Lija Athletic took a point each in a match played in poor weather conditions at the Centenary Stadium

The match was played in gusty winds and torrential rain with referee Stefan Pace stopping play for a few minutes early in the second half due to the severity of the conditions before the game resumed.

Lija took just four minutes to take the lead when Beppe Antignolo fired the ball home from the edge of the area.

St George’s equalised on 13 minutes when McAllister Clinch cleared the ball into the path of Bruno Mbonu. The Nigerian picked Larson Mallia who slotted home.

Galea denied Lija on 25 minutes when he somehow kept out Luca Casha’s header and from the rebound he again thwarted Patrick Borg.

The second half produced only two opportunities.

On 68 minutes a Brandon Muscat effort finished just wide of the Lija goal.

Lija almost won it on 84 minutes when Antignolo’s shot was deflected into the path of Borg who fired wide.

St George’s: T. Galea, M. Tanti, D. Zerafa, A. Bonello, R. Tanti, N.Ojuola, L. Mallia, B. Mbonu Chikwado, D. Lorenzo (R. Vella), B. Muscat, E. Amaira.

Lija: J. Spiteri, M. Clinch, L. Casha (I. McCarthy), C. Frendo, D. Mintoff (M. Borg), P. Borg, B. Antignolo, K. Vella, A. Ige, A. Caruana, E. Beu.

Referee: Stefan Pace.

Man of the match: Bruno Mbonu (St George’s).