Birzebbugia SP 4
St Andrew’s 1

Birżebbuġa St Peter’s recorded their third win in a row after trouncing 10-man St Andrew’s 4-1 yesterday.

The game was off to a low-key start with most of the play concentrated in the middle of the field.

It was St Andrew’s who opened the scoring in the 14th minute, Matthew Guillaumier beating Christian Cassar from close range after connecting with a free-kick taken by his uncle, Joseph Farrugia.

Birżebbuġa fought back, pushing more men forward. They levelled on 28 minutes when Ronnie Celeste controlled Ryan Zammit’s through-pass before firing a low shot that had the better of Sam Bartolo.

Now it was all Birżebbuġa who forged ahead thanks to defender Julian Briffa who managed to squeeze his shot into the net despite being closely marked.

St Andrew’s were now there for the taking and Birżebbuġa came close to scoring a third on 33 minutes but Giacomo Favero’s grounder was saved by Bartolo.

On the resumption, St Andrew’s created an opening. Emiliano Lattes was fed by Michael Johnson but the Argentine’s effort was stopped by Cassar.

On 65 minutes, St Andrew’s were reduced to 10 men when Johnson was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Favero.

Birżebbuġa took control, going on to increase their lead after Celeste rifled past goalkeeper Bartolo following a free-kick.

Ten minutes from time, the southseasiders almost made it four when Paolo Cataldi raced into the box and dribbled the goalkeeper but his drive was cleared off the line by defender Daniel Bonnici.

Three minutes from time, Birżebbuġa completed the rout when Glanville Goodlip scored with a low strike after reaching Cataldi’s cross.

Birżebbuġa: C. Cassar, J. Briffa, D. Baldacchino, M. Hrubsa (R. Micallef), P. Camilleri, R. Zammit, K. Borg, G. Favero (Grech), G. Caruana, R. Celeste (P. Cataldi), G. Goodlip (S. Pace).

St Andrew’s: S. Bartolo, M. Johnson, B. Said, K. Risholt, D. Bonnici (B. Diacono), A. Amato (N. Bradshaw), J. Farrugia, M. Guillaumier (M. Grima), E. Lattes, T. Grozev, K. Nwoko.

Referee: Stefan Pace.

Man of the match: Giacomo Favero (Birżebbuġa).