Pietà Hotspurs 2
Lija Athletic 3
Lija Athletic bagged their second win over Pietà Hotspurs in the space of a few days when they prevailed in a five-goal thriller at the Centenary Stadium yesterday.
Lija, who had beaten the Hotspurs in the FA Trophy in midweek, were put under pressure by their opponents but their superior ruthlessness in front of goal made all the difference as they moved up to second in the standings on 20 points, level with Mqabba and four adrift of leaders Naxxar Lions.
The Hotspurs forged ahead after seven minutes. Gabriel Mensah was put clear by Christian Stewart and the striker slid the ball past goalkeeper Luke Bonnici.
Mensah almost struck again twice in quick succession.
On 11 minutes later he was through on goal but was denied by Antoine Borg who cleared his shot off the line.
A minute later, Mensah was again unlucky when his header was cleared off the line by Predrag Babic.
But instead it was Lija who drew level on 15 minutes, Jorge Garcia Vidal heading home from a Lee Joe Schembri cross.
The Hotspurs regained their lead on 38 minutes when Christian Grech bundled the ball home from a Pace Cocks free-kick.
Lija soon responded and four minutes from the break Erjon Beu was released by Schembri and beat Montfort from close in.
Five minutes into the second half, Montfort effected a fine save to keep out Babic’s header.
Lija scored what proved to be the winner on 69 minutes when Beu stormed into the area and picked up Garcia Vidal whose shot was blocked by a defender. Adeshina Ige was first on the rebound to push the ball into the net.
Mensah should have saved a point for Pietà in stoppage time but drove wide from a Grech pass.
Pietà: M. Montfort, K. Micallef, C. Degabriele (S. Bartolo), N. Pace Cocks, C. Gauci, G. Mensah, J.M. Ruiz Perez, C. Grech, I. Jalo (Y. Dimitrov), C. Stewart (J. Busuttil), J. Scicluna.
Lija Athletic: L. Bonnici, C. Cassar, P. Babic, P. Borg (L. Muscat), D. Scerri, E. Beu, L. J. Schembri, A. Galea (M. Clinch), J. Garcia Vidal (B. Antignolo), A. Ige, A. Borg.
Referee: Mario Apap.
Best player: Neil Pace Cocks (Pietà Hotspurs).
Fgura United 1
Melita 4
Melita distanced themselves from the lower places when they had the better of relegation rivals Fgura United yesterday.
Andrea Pisanu’s Amateurs forged ahead after only two minutes when following a quick move Axl Xuereb found Alan Borg Olivier who tapped the ball home.
Melita almost made it 2-0 on 34 minutes when Jean Pierre Attard headed wide from a Cornago cross.
Fgura showed signs of improvement on the restart and they managed to draw level when Waseem Jadean’s cross was bundled home by Warren Chircop.
But Melita restored their lead on 56 minutes courtesy of Cornago’s half volley following an Aidan Mizzi cross.
Toriano Singleton put the game to bed on 67 minutes when he latched on to a long pass and beat Bartolo with a grounder.
Melita were clearly on top and Axl Xuereb should have added a fourth but fired wide from close in.
But two minutes from time Matthew Groves drilled the ball into the net to cap an important win for the Amateurs.
Fgura United: B. Bartolo, D. Aquilina (R. Spiteri), E. Uzeh, G. Chircop, C. Fenech, J. Barbara (O. Barbara), D. Cachia, V. H. Dos Santos (J. Dalli), W. Chircop, M. Spiteri, W. Jadean.
Melita: N. Grima; M. Galea, A. Mizzi, R. Parrado, T. Singleton (M. Groves), M. Fenech, E. Cornago, J.P. Attard, A. Xuereb, A. Borg Olivier (J. Abela), N. Bradshaw (T. Naudi).
Referee: Matthew Degabriele.
Best Player: Emilio Cornago (Melita).