Żejtun Corinthians 0
Birżebbuġa SP 2

Birżebbuġa St Peter’s took another significant step towards retaining their Division One status when they beat struggling Żejtun Corinthians.

The Saints have now opened a comfortable a 11-point lead over second-from-bottom Żejtun who are still in deep relegation trouble.

Birżebbuġa were off to a bright start and after two minutes Ronnie Celeste met Claudio Calleja’s cross but his header was tipped over by goalkeeper Aga.

Żejtun responded six minutes later when Adrian Carabott’s dipping shot just missed the target.

For the rest of the half, scoring chances were few and far between and the next opportunity came just before the break Kenneth Abela burst into the Birżebbuġa area before teeing up Aleksandrs Cekulajevs who saw his header finish just wide.

Żejtun had an awful start to the second half when Andre Farrugia tripped Birżebbuġa’s Paolo Cataldi inside the area and from the resultant penalty Calleja drilled the ball home.

Birżebbuġa doubled their lead on 58 minutes when Martin Hrubsa beat Aga from close in following a defensive melee.

Żejtun’s response failed to materialise and nine minutes from time Ryan Zammit saw his low shot roll just wide.

Żejtun: E. Aga (R. Debattista); A. Farrugia (E. Vella), R. Previ, C. Magro, P. Mirxeta, R. Farrugia, J. Galea (G. Delia), J. Spiteri, K. Abela, A. Carabott, A. Cekulajevs.

Birżebbuġa: C. Cassar; M. Hrubsa, P. Camilleri, D. Baldacchino, R. Zammit, P. Grima, F. Peplow, C. Calleja, G. Favero (D. Grech), R. Celeste (G. Goodlip), P. Cataldi ( G. Caruana).

Referee: Andre Arciola.

Man of the match: Claudio Calleja (Birżebbuġa).