SLIEMA WANDERERS 1
Temile 48

PEMBROKE ATHLETA 1
Kooh Sohna 84

Pembroke and Sliema Wanderers shared the spoils in a tale of two halves.

Sliema dominated the volume of play particularly in the first hour, but they had no tactical supremacy over their opponents who came out in the second half to grab a point seven minutes from time.

The Wanderers did the early running but there was little effect in their play. The Athleta defence was being well-marshalled by Andrea Scozzese until Jean Paul Farrugia found some space in the box on 40 minutes to unleash a neat shot on the turn which was blocked by the Italian defender on the line.

But there was never any doubt as to which team generated the propulsion. Temile’s opportunism had come in useful just after the break as he prodded the ball in towards the low corner of the net to Roppas’s right following Denni’s mazy run on the flank.

Pembroke tried to react and were unlucky not to equalise. Giuseppe Sarao thwarted them after 75 minutes with a top-drawer save when he somehow palmed away Scozzese’s point-blank header that looked destined to hit the back of the net.

Pembroke plucked up courage and Sarao again rescued his side after he dived to save on Daren Falzon. But their best chance fell to Raphael Kooh Sohna whose first-time effort whizzed past Sarao after a long ball by Barbetti.