St Patrick 1
Pietà Hotspurs 0

Young substitute Joe Reno Vella, still 16, will surely remember his debut for St Patrick for a long time as yesterday he scored the winner after barely a few minutes on the pitch to keep his team’s hopes of avoiding the drop alive.

Vella’s last-gasp goal produced a major surprise and also dented the Hotspurs promotion chances.

St Patrick looked the more enterprising side in the early stages. In fact, on seven minutes, Blendi Gockay almost gave Robert Cassar’s team the lead but his effort was stopped in style by Pietà keeper Miguel Montfort.

Montfort then parried a Clayton Camilleri shot after some good work by Evair Grech with Edmond Lufi’s Pietà hitting back with a Vinicius Pereira dos Santos effort that went wide.

St Patrick were seeing more of the ball and on 30 minutes a Spas Spasov header, following a Gockay centre, flew a whisker away from the upright.

Spasov came close again but drove wide from a good position and in first-half added time the Bulgarian was thwarted by Montfort after connecting to a Dion Fava service.

On resumption, Pietà had a Quilin Refalo’s effort blocked for a corner and at the other end Matthew Xerri was unlucky to see his header hit Montfort with the ball rolling out to safety.

Dos Santos made a dashing run on the right but hit badly from inside the Saints box and 10 minutes from time a Dylan Micallef delivery was intercepted by Andrew Spiteri before Alex Ellul could hit home.

On 87 minutes, with a goalless stalemate looming large, Vella was put through by Micallef and hit hard past Montfort for a superb goal.

St Patrick: J. Grech, M. Xerri, C. Camilleri (D. Micallef), M. Onorah, D. Fava, B. Gockaj (J.R. Vella), A. Galea, S. Zerafa (A. Ellul), S. Spasov, E. Grech, J. Farrugia.

Pietà: M. Montfort, E. Giaccaglia (I. Grech), B. Sciberras (C. Sciberras), Q. Refalo (A. Farrugia), T. Agius, Z. Muscat, V.P. Dos Santos, L. Mallia, C. Cassar, J. Zarate, A. Spiteri.

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Best player: Spas Spasov (St Patrick).

Vittoriosa Stars 4
St George’s 2

A scrappy Cottonera derby burst into life late on with four goals and two red cards as the police also had to intervene to control some unruly fans on the stands.

On the field, Marcelo Pereira made the difference as he scored a hat-trick for Vittoriosa who eased their relegation worries, leaving the Saints rock bottom.

Vittoriosa came close to opening the score first through a Gary Muir free-kick which finished over the bar. Muir then hit wide following a Leighton Grech cross but as time went by the Saints started to push more forward.

On 27 minutes, Georgi Dolmov saw his shot stopped by keeper Jean Matthias Vella as the Stars responded with efforts from Pereira and Muir that were stopped by keeper Ryan Marmara.

The pattern didn’t change much as the second half got underway but the Reds forged ahead on the hour when Pereira rose high to head past Marmara.

Vittoriosa’s joy was short-lived though as two minutes later Klinsmann Grech was floored by Larry Lagana and a penalty was given. Gary Inguanez made no mistake from the spot.

Pereira could have given his team the lead but his shot from 10 metres out finished wide as the Saints suffered a blow on 74 minutes when Dylan Zarb was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for simulation.

Nine minutes from time Grech beat his direct marker and slammed the rebound home after his first shot was repelled by Marmara.

Lagana was also sent off for a second booking and the Stars put the game to bed with two Pereira goals for a 4-1 lead.

Despite playing with nine men, the Saints still managed to make the scoreline more respectable when Jonathan Ruiz hit home following a melee inside the box in stoppage time.

Vittoriosa: J.M. Vella, B. Bonnici, M. Buttigieg, J. Camilleri (L. Lagana), R. Dos Santos, A. Spiteri (M. Barbara), K.M. Robinson, R. Brincat, M. Pereria, G. Muir, L. Grech (L. Scerri).

St George’s: R. Marmara, D. Zahra (A. Mercieca), L. Rocha Dos Santos, E. Sevasta, A. Abela, G. Inguanez, R. Boutahir, D. Zarb, E. Amiara, K. Grech (A. Bonello), G. Dolmov (J. Ruiz).

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Best player: Marcelo Pereira (Vittoriosa Stars).

Standings