Msida St Joseph 3
Birżebbuġa SP 1

Msida obtained a precious victory to keep their chances of staying in Division One next season alive. The Saints have now joined Żejtun on the 14-point mark, a place off the bottom of the table.

Msida started better and took the lead on 21 minutes as Ariel Laudisi ran fast to nip in and score from a Stephang Banzio delivery.

Birżebbuġa hit back with a Kevin Borg shot from outside the area with his effort finishing just wide as Laudisi saw his strike stopped in style by Cassar at the other end of the pitch.

Msida made it 2-0 from the corner when defender Stacey Vella jumped high above the opponents’ defence to head home.

A minute from the break Banzio should have put the game to bed when with only the goalkeeper to beat he drove the ball high.

On resumption, a Laudisi effort just missed the target. On 67 minutes an Azzopardi free-kick was fumbled by Cassar, with Laudisi’s drive being blocked by a defender.

A minute later Banzio made amends for his miss before the break when he headed in after a good moved that was started by Assio’o.

Four minutes from time Ronnie Celeste scored a consolation when he flung himself full length to meet a Ryan Zammit cross.

Msida: J.M. Vella, G. Gesualdi, M. Borda, S. Vella, L. Cassar, M. Caruana (K. Saliba), D. Attard, A. Azzo-pardi, R. Assio’o (D. Cucciardi), A. Laudisi, S. Banzio.

Birżebbuġa: C. Cassar, R. Zammit, P. Grima, D. Baldacchino, J. Briffa, F. Peplow (R. Micallef), K. Borg (D. Grech), G. Favero (A. Cartelli), C. Calleja, R. Celeste, G. Caruana.

Referee: Stefan Pace.

Man of the match: Ariel Laudisi (Msida St Joseph).

Standings