ST ANDREWS 1
Mckay 20

GŻIRA UNITED 0

St Andrews maintained their moment of grace after holding off Gżira United’s challenge in a hard-fought victory.

It was a very inauspicious start to the match as both teams were reluctant to expose themselves at the back. Inside the first seven minutes, Rafael Ledesma served Antonio Machedo Neto dashing into the box but his header was stopped by Jake Galea, the St. Andrews goalkeeper.

The Saints’ tactical game plan was a cautious one, but it was they who drew first blood after 20 minutes. Ziga Kastrevec caused havoc in the Gżira penalty area and the ball fell to the feet of Godwin Mckay, who fired past Jurgen Borg with a shot on the turn.

On 37 minutes, Felix Udoh picked up a pass on the right and instantly floated an inviting cross towards the Gżira penalty area where the steaming Dale Camilleri broke clear before firing a venomous shot but Borg was on hand to stop his low drive.

St. Andrews kept up the pressure as the second half got underway but a couple of assaults were charged down by the Gżira defenders. The hard-running McKay was constantly releasing himself from his midfield position and he popped up just inside the area to test the Gżira goalkeeper after 50 minutes.

The Gżira insistence was not being backed by penetration in the attacking line even if Moises Avila Perez brought the very best out of Galea with a header in the 76th minute.

Nine minutes from time, McKay found space on the right and advanced but was expertly stopped in the box by Souleymane Diamoutene.

Gżira went close to grab a point with substitute Jacob Borg’s header whizzing past the target and Ledesma’s final effort from free-kick finishing just wide with Galea beaten.