Qormi 0
Senglea Athletic 0
Senglea ended Qormi’s impressive run of six successive wins after holding their promotion rivals to a goalless draw, yesterday.
This was Qormi’s first draw of the season that left them sharing top spot with Naxxar Lions who, however, have a game in hand.
Senglea threatened first after three minutes but Christian Cassar’s effort just missed the target.
Qormi responded with a Sidibe header that finished wide.
Senglea almost took the lead on 22 minutes but Marcelo Sosa Dias’s effort was pushed over by goalkeeper Jamie Azzopardi.
Scoring chances remained few and far between and the next scoring opportunity arrived a few minutes after the restart.
Terence Vella connected to Ryan Dalli’s corner but his attempt at goal was blocked by the Qormi defence.
At the other end, Noah Ojuola met Cassar’s cross but his first-time effort flew over.
Ten minutes from time, goalkeeper Jonathan Martinelli, who had just replaced Jeffrey Farrugia, showed fine reflexes to keep out Lawrence Chiedozie’s effort.
Qormi pushed more men forward late on in search of a winner but Senglea held on for a point to stay in the promotion hunt.
Qormi: J. Azzopardi, M. Barbara (T. Guzman), O. Sidibe, C. Farrugia (R. Vella), D. Vukovic, M. Camilleri, B. Grech, A. Abela, D. Medic (L. Chie-dozie), A. Cassar, N. Ojoula.
Senglea: J. Farrugia (J. Martinelli), K. Farrugia, J. Pace, K. Tanti, J. Farrugia, M. Del Negro, C. Cassar, M. Sosa Dias, T. Vella, R. Dalli, A. Obaje Smith.
Referee: Clayton Pisani.
Best player: Darko Medic (Qormi).
Melita 2
Lija Athletic 0
Melita returned to winning ways to move clear from the relegation zone.
With Nicholas Bradshaw playing a blinder in the middle of the park and an organised defensive set-up, Andrea Pisanu’s side were worth their win, a revenge for the 5-1 upset to Lija in the corresponding first round match.
After four minutes Toriano Singleton rose high to head home a Thomas Naudi corner.
That was a good start for Melita who went close to doubling their lead through Michael Cachia and Singleton.
Before the break Lija also had a good chance to equalise but Erjon Beu’s free-kick was saved in style by Nicholas Grima.
On resumption, Singleton darted into the Lija box to meet Axl Xuereb’s cross but his shot was stopped by Luke Bonnici.
Lija soon started to dictate matters but the Melita rearguard, marshalled by Cachia and Aidan Mizzi, were almost impeccable on the day.
Melita put the game to bed with 10 minutes to go following a fast counter attack that concluded with a Xuereb tap-in past the keeper.
Melita: N. Grima, M. Cachia, A. Mizzi, R. Parrado, K. Pace, T. Naudi (A. Borg Olivier), E. Cornago, J.P. Attard, A. Xuereb (D. Cutajar), T. Singleton (L. Micallef), N. Bradshaw.
Lija: L. Bonnici, D. Scerri, P. Babic, L. Muscat, E. Beu, L. Schembri (A. Sammut), A. Galea, J. Garcia Vidal, M. Clinch (P. Borg), Y. Tonna (C. Cassar), A. Borg.
Referee: Stefan Pace.
Best player: Nicholas Bradshaw (Melita).