Lija Athletic 5
Msida St Joseph 0
Lija were back to winning ways yesterday after hammering Msida 5-0. As the score suggests this was one-way traffic with the Saints rarely having a sniff at the Lija goal.
Lija opened the score early on when defender Renie Forace committed an own goal following a melee inside the Msida box.
Msida’s reaction was poor with Lija holding a firm grip on the proceedings.
But, before half-time Ricardo Faria had a fine shot at the Lija goal deflected to a corner and Isaac Chircop hit badly from inside the Lija penalty area.
The score became 2-0 in first-half stoppage-time when Abdullahi Ige went past three defenders and hit home with a scorching grounder.
Msida could have easily reduced the arrears when Faria hit wide in front of goal after the interval.
But Lija were always dangerous on the break and Ige beat his direct marker before planting the ball inside the Msida net.
Lija made it 4-0 13 minutes from time when a Luca Casha cross-shot deceived keeper Matthew Camilleri, the ball rolling agonisingly into the net.
Lija rounded things off with a fifth late on thanks to substite Dylan Mintoff who beat Camilleri after he was put through by Casha.
Lija: J. Spiteri, C. McAllister, E. Beu (D. Mintoff), I McCarthy (N. Spiteri), L. Casha, C. Frendo, P. Borg, B. Antignolo (D. Zarb), K. Vella, A. Ige, J. Francica.
Msida: M. Camilleri, S. Schembri (L. Micallef), M. Ferreira da Costa, R. Forace, R. Faria, G. Vella, D. Cachia, M. Borda, D. Attard, Y. de Jesus Messias (G. Murikami), I. Chircop (K. Borg).
Referee: Glenn Tonna.
St Andrew’s 3
Mqabba 1
St Andrew’s: S. Bartolo, M. Johnson, M. Sehitaj, B. Said, J. Farrugia, D. Camilleri, M. Gullaumier (N. Bradshaw), E. Lattes, T. Grozev, M. Desira Buttigieg (K. Nwoko), N. Vella Petroni (L. Busuttil).
Mqabba: K. Calleja, M. Bonnici, R. Da Silva Gomes, M. Anthony Psaila, C. Micallef (D. Azzopardi), C. Calleja, K. Cutajar, P. Taiye (O. Farrugia), D. Da Silva Silveira, J. Fenech, B. Grech (A. Camilleri).
Scorers: Johnson 2 (SA), Silveira 16 pen (M), Gullaimier 22 (SA), Desira Buttigieg 30 (SA).
Missed penalty: Grozev (SA) 75.
Referee: Fiodor Zammit.
Pembroke Athleta 4
Birzebbuga SP 0
Pembroke: M. Calleja Cremona, O. Sidibe, G. Azzopardi, A. Azzo-pardi (M. Thorne), A. Agius, D. Sammut, A. Laudisi, G. Spiteri (R. Caruana), L. Omerou, S. Arab (L. Micallef), R. Bajada.
Birzebbuga: A. Boatto, A. Dalli (K. Muscat), J. Briffa (G. Magri), D. Kokavessis, D. Grech, L. Micallef, N. Clerico (G. Camilleri), E. Luiz Bonati, G. Caruana, J. Ani, S. Eboh.
Scorers: A. Azzopardi 10, Arab 50, Omerou 8, G. Azzopardi 89.
Referee: Stefan Pace.