Pieta' Hotspurs 0
Sirens 1
Sirens returned back to winning ways after successive defeats against Senglea Athletic and Żebbuġ Rangers to edge past Pietà Hotspurs at the Centenary Stadium, yesterday.
It was a deserved victory for the St Paul’s Bay side who held the edge in a balanced encounter against the Hotspurs who failed to build on their victory over Fgura United in their last encounter.
Sirens threatened first after five minutes. A Robert Vaduva cross found Jonas Ekani Rodriguez who drove the ball wide from inside the area.
Five minutes later it was Christian Caruana who tried his luck from the distance with the ball finishing over the crossbar.
Pietà responded on 17 minutes when a Pace Cocks effort from outside the area just missed the
target.
On 22 minutes a Miguel Ciantar free-kick was saved for a corner by Chircop St John.
Eleven minutes later, Pietà came close when Gabriel Mensah had his effort deflected by Ekani Rodriguez for a corner.
After the break both sides came out to score that important goal and on 50 minutes a Christian Caruana header was cleared off the line by Christian Grech.
At the other end a James Scicluna drive, from well outside the box, was saved for a corner by Cini.
Sirens scored what proved to be the winning goal on 56 minutes
Vaduva’s shot was partially saved by Chircop St John but in came Miguel Ciantar who hit the ball home from close in.
After this goal the game was concentrated mostly in the middle of the park.
But a minute from time the Hotspurs almost grabbed a point.
A Jan Busuttil effort from the edge of the area was saved by Cini with the aid of the upright.
Pietà: J. Chircop, C. Degabriele, T. Bartolo, N. Pace Cocks, D. Agius, M. Mifsud, Y. Dimitrov, C. Gauci (J. Busuttil), G. Mensah (J. Scicluna), J.M. Ruiz Perez, C. Grech.
Sirens: S. Cini, D. Sant, T. Farrugia, D. Martini, D. Zampa, I. Curmi, J. Ekani Rodriguez, C. Caruana, M. Ciantar, R. Sciberras, R. Vaduva (C. Newuche).
Referee: Darryl Agius.
Best Player: Christian Caruana (Sirens).
Melita 1
Għargħur 1
Melita and Għargħur shared the spoils in an entertaining encounter where both sides adopted attacking tactics.
It was Għargħur who drew first blood after seven minutes. Darren Sciberras latched on to a Luke Busuttil throughball to shoot home from close range.
Melita hit back immediately and drew level in the 19th minute. Singleton found Alan Borg Olivier who beat Valletta with a grounder from an acute angle.
Six minutes later it was Borg Olivier again who tried his luck from outside the area but this time Valletta saved with ease.
Borislav Giorev’s side responded on 27 minutes when a William Barbosa free-kick was saved by Grima.
Three minutes later it was Tufegdzic who cleared off the line after Fagbeja tried his luck with a chip, from the rebound a Vella effort was saved by Grima.
On 38 minutes Axl Xuereb came close for Melita when his cross-shot finished inches wide. Four minutes later, Għargħur were unlucky to see Vella’s dipping shot coming off the bar.
Five minutes into the second half, Sciberras sped into the area but his effort was saved partially by Grima, the ball fell to Gie who drove the ball wide.
On 69 minutes it was Valletta who came to his side’s rescue with two fine interventions. First he denied the unmarked Borg Olivier and from the rebound he again dived at full stretch to keep out Cornago’s effort.
Eight minutes from time, the Spaniard could have won it when the ball finished into his feet but he fired wide with only Valletta to beat.
Melita: N. Grima; J.P. Attard, A. Mizzi, I. Tufegdzic, K. Pace, M. Fenech (M. Cachia), E. Cornago, M. Russo (N. Bradshaw), A. Xuereb, A. Borg Olivier, T. Singleton.
Għargħur: Z. Valletta: W. Barbosa, J. Azzopardi, L. Busuttil, M. Fagbeja (J. C. Da Silva), M. Spiteri, L. Galea, J. Briffa, L. Vella, C. Gie, D. Sciberras.
Referee: Darko Stankovic.
Best Player: Ivan Tufegdzic (Melita).