Mosta chalked up their second win in the BOV Premier League after beating Qormi, yesterday. Photo: Stephen GattMosta chalked up their second win in the BOV Premier League after beating Qormi, yesterday. Photo: Stephen Gatt

Mosta 1
Fidelis 47;
Qormi 0

Mosta registered their second win after battling past Qormi in a drab encounter last night.

It was far from a good performance from the Blues who struggled for fluency throughout the 90 minutes but were grateful in the end to a moment of brilliance from Nigerian striker Saviour Fidelis.

He showed great qualities to tuck home the all-important goal that earned Mosta the points which lifted them to the six-point tally along with Valletta and Pembroke Athleta.

Coach Ivan Zammit will surely urge his players to lift their game for the coming matches as for long stretches yesterday Mosta looked a disjointed lot and despite enjoying long spells of possession failed to create goalscoring opportunities.

On the other hand, Qormi, whose start of the season was hampered by administrative and financial problems, tried to make a fight out of it but they lacked punch upfront with Carlo Monti and Alex Nilsson finding little support from their team-mates and in the end they were made to concede a second successive defeat.

Qormi would do with a couple of additions before the transfer deadline but with little funds available it seems that the Yellow-Blacks are in for a long and difficult campaign.

Mosta had three ‘new’ players in their starting formation as Ryan Grech, Ian Zammit and Bobby Frederick made their first starts of the new season.

Grech took a central midfield role as Ice Cream Guobadia was shifted to the heart of defence in place of Mark Brincat. Manolito Micallef started at right-back to fill in for the suspended Ekani Rodriguez while Frederick partnered Zammit upfront as Abdul Malik Mohammed was relegated to the subs’ bench.

Qormi paraded latest signing Kurt Magro in the starting formation but there was no place for goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia who was not in the 18-man squad. Young Andreas Vella started in goal while Alex Nilsson recovered from injury to lead their attack in the absence of the unfit Ryan Micallef.

Mosta started brightly and early on Tyrone Farrugia connected with Micallef’s corner but his header flew just wide.

The Blues continued to hold the initiative and on 14 minutes Micallef hit a rasping drive that flashed past the upright.

After that bright start the match fell into a long spell of scrappy football as both teams were guilty of wayward passing with scoring chances a rarity.

Five minutes from the break Qormi coach Jesmond Zerafa was forced to make his first substitution when defender Billy Berntsson sustained an injury and was replaced by Pietro Viggiani.

The Italian midfielder’s introduction saw Emerson Vella taking a central defensive role with Steve Agius deployed at left-back.

Qormi’s first attempt at goal arrived two minutes from the break when from a free-kick Monti’s drive went off target.

The match sprung into life on the restart as on 47 minutes Frederick chipped the ball towards Fidelis who beat Agius to the ball before hitting low into the net.

Mosta almost struck again a minute later when Frederick stormed into the Qormi penalty area and set up Samuel Chukwide who fired wide with only the keeper to beat.

Qormi responded on the hour mark when Clifford Gauci connected to Monti’s inswinger from a corner but his header just missed the upright.

Eighteen minutes from time, Mosta protested for a penalty when Micallef went down in the Qormi box after a challenge by Agius but referee Alan Mario Sant waved play on.

Although Mosta were in the driving seat, Qormi kept hoping and eight minutes from time Zerafa withdrew Joseph Chetcuti and roped in Juan Carlos Viera in his bid not to finish empty-handed again. However, it was Mosta who almost added a second goal in time added on when Micallef released substitute Edile Michel-etti whose diagonal drive finished just wide.

Mosta
O. Borg-6, T. Farrugia-6, M. Micallef-7.5, I. Guobadia-6, D. Falzon-6 (70 E. Micheletti), H. Yau-6, S. Fidelis-6 (78 A. Mohammed), S. Chukwide-5, R. Grech-5, B. Frederick-6.5, I. Zammit-5.5 (74 J. Brincat).

Qormi
A. Vella-5.5, A. Cassar-5, B. Berntsson-5 (40 P. Viggiani-5), N. Ojuola-6, E. Vella-6, S. Agius-5.5, C. Gauci-6, C. Monti-6, J. Chetcuti-6 (82 J.C. Viera), K. Magro-5 (69 G. Azzopardi-5), A. Nilsson-6.

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Yellow cards: Fidelis, Zammit.

BOV player of the match: Manolito Micallef (Mosta).

Attendance: 417.

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Valletta 2 2 0 0 4 0 6
Pembroke 2 2 0 0 6 4 6
Mosta 2 2 0 0 3 1 6
Birkirkara 2 1 1 0 6 2 4
Tarxien 2 1 1 0 4 2 4
Balzan 2 1 1 0 3 1 4
Hibernians 2 1 1 0 3 2 4
Floriana 2 0 0 2 2 4 0
Qormi 2 0 0 2 1 3 0
Sliema 2 0 0 2 0 3 0
St Andrew’s 2 0 0 2 3 7 0
Naxxar 2 0 0 2 0 6 0

Next fixtures

Saturday, Sept. 12
Hibs Stadium: 17.00 St Andrew’s vs Mosta. 19.00 Floriana vs Qormi.
Tedesco Stadium: 17.00 Sliema vs Pembroke. 19.15 Hibs vs Naxxar.

Sunday, Sept. 13
National Stadium: 17.00 Balzan vs Tarxien. 19.00 Birkirkara vs Valletta.

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