Melita’s Julian Galea shields the ball from Adeshina Ige, of Lija, during yesterday’s match in Ta’ Qali. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi

Lija Athletic 0
Melita 1

Lija’s hopes of promotion were jolted yesterday as they were beaten by a depleted Melita side at the Centenary Stadium.

Kurt Coleiro’s winner meant a double for Melita who had beaten Lija 2-1 in the first round.

Lija stay third in the standings, nine points behind second-placed Żebbuġ Rangers who trail leaders Pieta Hotspurs by three points.

Melita, now just a point off Lija in fourth place, had the likes of Malcolm Mamo, George Gribbon, Ivan Tufegdzic, Nigel Rizzo, Michael Valenzia and Kane Micallef all missing from their line-up. They also had two youngsters on the bench, Luke Zammit, 14, and Luke Mifsud, 16.

The initial stages of the match were balanced and did not offer anything worthy of note. In fact, it was only a Gianluca Calabretta effort from just inside the box that made those present stand but the shot was saved by the Melita keeper.

Melita hit back but Antoine Attard failed to make contact in front of goal following a Jean Carlo Da Silva centre. Two minutes later Matthew Borg headed over the Lija goal from a free-kick.

At the other end, Kiril Aleksandrov dribbled past a defender only to shoot straight at goalkeeper Nicolas Grima.

Then, a Luke Bianco crossshot was tipped over for a corner by Lija’s Matthew Camilleri. A minute before the break a Da Silva effort produced another fine save from Camilleri.

Melita looked the better lot at the start of the second half.

A Julian Galea shot was stopped in style by Camilleri but on 47 minutes Melita forged ahead when a Galea grounder was deflected into the net by Coleiro.

The Lija rearguard protested for offside but the referee saw nothing untoward.

Melita almost doubled their lead on 58 minutes following a Sierra Camacho free-kick with the ball hitting the post on its way out.

The Amateurs then opted for caution as Lija failed to react.

Lija went close to an equaliser just before the final whistle but a Daniel Scerri shot was neutralised by the well-positioned Grima.

Lija: M. Camilleri, C. Giordmaina, M. Fleri Soler, D. Vukovic, D. Scerri, G. Calabretta, E. Briffa, P. Babic (R. Sell), L. Micallef (T. Fleri Soler), K. Aleksandrov, A. Ige.

Melita: N. Grima, N. Bonello, M. Borg, M.R. Sierra Camacho, L. Bianco, J. Galea, J.J. Cueto Rodriguez, L. Micallef, K. Coleiro (T. Terpougoff), A. Attard (L. Mifsud), J. Da Silva (M. Cachia).

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Man of the match: Luke Micallef (Melita).