St Andrew’s 2
Vittoriosa 1

Two fine goals helped St Andrew’s beat Vittoriosa Stars to put the Cottonera side in deeper trouble at the wrong end of the table.

Despite having new coach Oliver Spiteri in charge and Ramon, Gary Muir and Luke Vella Critien making their playing debut it was still not enough for Vittoriosa to avoid another defeat.

St Andrew’s continued to show improvement and all in all they were worth their win. In the second half they played with style and guile under the guidance of Valdo Alinho Goncalves who had a fine performance.

St Andrew’s had most of the possession in the first 45 minutes.

On 15 minutes an Alinho Goncalves drive finished inches wide while on 21 minutes Ryan Previ just missed the target.

Gradually Vittoriosa came more into the picture and on 28 minutes Marcelo Pereira’s goalbound header was pushed away by Daniel Balzan and from the rebound the Brazil striker was again denied by the Saints goalkeeper.

After the interval, St Andrew’s were unlucky not to take the lead when Alinho Goncalves hit the bar directly from a free-kick.

But that was just a temporary reprieve for Vittoriosa as on 49 minutes Gustavo Beimad Ribeiro picked Nicky Vella Petroni who unleashed a powerful drive that flew into the net via the bar.

Vittoriosa looked nervous and could have conceded a second when minutes later Alinho Goncalves was again denied by the crossbar.

The Stars equalised on 71 minutes when Balzan failed to hold onto Pereira’s free-kick and in came Ramon to slot the ball home.

But the Saints soon responded and on 79 minutes they struck the winner. Vella Petroni headed the ball into the path of Previ who beat Jean Matthias Vella at the far post.

Vittoriosa staged a late fightback but somehow St Andrew’s survived to hold onto a precious win.

St Andrew’s: D. Balzan, N. Chetcuti, A. Camilleri Kamsky, B. Said, K. Galea, A. Nakuaa, R. Previ (M. Calleja), M. Ellul, N. Vella Petroni, V. Alinho Goncalves (F. Alkanua), G. Ribeiro.

Vittoriosa: J.M. Vella, L. Vella Critien, J. Camilleri, B. Bonnici (S. Tellus), M. Barbara, G. Muir, Ramon, M. Pereira, L. Scerri (K.M. Robinson), D. Pace (A. Spiteri), J. Dalli.

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.

Man of the match: Valdo Alinho Goncalves (St Andrew’s).

Lija Athletic 0
St Patrick 1

St Patrick registered an important victory over Lija Athletic to go level on points with second-from-bottom St George’s and boost their chances of avoiding relegation.

The Saints surely deserved the points as they were the better side on the day with debutants Spas Spasov and Morgan Onourah leaving a positive impression.

For the Żabbar side this was their second win of the season and have also put the likes of Lija and Vittoriosa Stars in relegation trouble with only a point seperating them.

St Patrick managed to score the all-important goal in their first foray at the Lija goal when Alex Ellul received a ball from Blendi Glockaj and although hitting the badly from close range, the ball still creeped in.

On 33 minutes minutes, Lija should have equalised when Abdullahi Adeshina Ige found the unmarked Antoine Scerri who was blocked by Andreas Galea as he was about to shoot.

St Patrick responded on 36 minutes when Gockaj just missed the target with a shot from inside the area.

After the interval, Lija stepped up a gear and on the hour St Patrick keeper Jonathan Grech misjudged Keith Darmanin’s cross, the ball fell into the path of Ige who was thwarted by Evair Grech’s block.

One thought that Lija were going to push everyone forward in search of an equaliser but such pressure never materialised.

On the contrary it was St Patrick who could have closed the match on 90 minutes.

Simon Zerafa took too long to pass the ball to the unmarked Spasov and eventually he lost balance and a golden chance was lost.

Lija Athletic: E. Ini, T. Fleri Soler, C. Giordmaina, R. Conceicao, D. Scerri, D. Mintoff (B. Fenech), K. Darmanin, J. P. Scerri, M. Fleri Soler, A. Ige, A. Sacco

St Patrick: J. Galea, E. Grech, M. Vella, C. Camilleri (M. Scerri), A. Ellul, B. Gockay (R. Vella), S. Spasov, M. Onourah, S. Zerafa, J. Farrugia (J. Farrugia), A. Galea

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Man of the match: Spas Spasov (St Patrick).