Lija Athletic 0
Senglea Athletic 1

Terrence Scerri scored before the break as Senglea edged Lija 1-0 to move up to third place in the standings.

Lija were an improved lot after the interval but, for all their possession, they did not create enough chances.

Senglea started on the attack. Cassar’s effort from outside the box just missed the Lija goal and Ryan Dalli headed inches wide.

Lija hit back midway through the half with a Beppe Antignolo shot that failed to reach the desired target. At the other end, George Faure’s side were unlucky when a Dalli shot from 30 metres out crashed against the upright.

Senglea continued to show the better ideas as Dalli went close a third time from a Vella cross.

Then, when it looked as though the first half was going to end goalless, Scerri beat the offside trap as he sprinted into the box to beat keeper Bonnici with a firm grounder.

Lija, who are also in the hunt for a place in the play-off, looked to start the second half in better fashion.

An Ige header from a corner flashed wide. However, that was the only real threat on the Senglea goal. Late on, an Adrian Caruana effort from the edge of the area was saved by Jeffrey Farrugia.

Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Giordmaina, M. Clinch, L. Muscat, L.J. Schembri, E. Beu, P. Babic (J. Garcia Vidal), A. Caruana, B. Antignolo (R. Taliana), A. Ige, A. Borg.

Senglea: J. Farrugia, K. Tanti, F. Gusman, R. Vella, J. Farrugia, C. Cassar, M. Ciantar, M. Del Negro (J.M. Artiago Roa), E. Lattes (B. Zerafa), T. Scerri, R. Dalli.

Referee: Stefan Pace.

Man of the match: Ryan Dalli (Senglea Athletic).

Melita 2
Vittoriosa Stars 0

Melita registered their second consecutive victory to move into safer waters in the league standings as Vittoriosa Stars saw their promotion hopes jolted.

The Stars sorely felt the absence of Milan Lukic, suspended, but Melita produced a sound performance and took their chances well to seal victory.

Vittoriosa held the upperhand in the early stages but it was Melita who threatened first. However, Nikki Vella Petroni’s effort took a deflection off a defender at the last minute and rolled wide.

At the other end, Miljan Milivojev’s free-kick was stopped by the Melita goalkeeper.

On resumption, the Amateurs almost opened the scoring but the unmarked Michael Cachia headed wide from a corner.

Despite facing the strong wind, Vittoriosa still enjoyed most of the possession. On the hour Milivojev tried his luck from the edge of the area but his shot finished just wide.

Melita took the lead against the run of play on 75 minutes.

Alan Borg Olivier crossed inside the box and Francois Guihard slotted past keeper James Mercieca.

Vittoriosa tried hard to avoid defeat but the Amateurs made sure with a second goal scored by Borg Olivier. He sliced through the Vittoriosa defence in a quick counter-break before beating Mercieca with a grounder.

Melita: M. Sapiano, A. Borg Olivier, L. Bianco, J. Abela (B. Jaccharini), M. Cachia, D. Cachia (A. Attard), N. Vella Petroni, G. Schranz, E. Cornago, J.P. Attard, F. Guihard.

Vittoriosa: J. Mercieca, R. Previ (J. Galea), P. Mrvic, C. Spiteri, D. Fava, A. Galea (G. Sultana), M. Barbara, T. Nasiti, S. Meilaq, M. Camilleri, M. Milivojev.

Referee: Etienne Mangion.

Man of the match: Alan Borg Olivier (Melita).

Standings