PEMBROKE ATHLETA 1
STA LUĊIJA 0
Pembroke Athleta coach Brian Spiteri admitted that his team was lucky to take all three points against promotion contenders Sta Luċija after an injury-time goal from Kurt Borg handed them all three points that put them in contention for a play-off spot.
In fact, the Reds have now moved on the 32-point mark, three adrift of third-placed Sta Luċija and one adrift of Naxxar Lions with only five matches remaining.
“We were lucky but as they say, luck favours the brave,” Spiteri told the Times of Malta.
“Our goalkeeper was in terrific form and made two magnificent saves and then we grabbed the winner with virtually the last kick of the match, giving Sa Luċija no time to recover.
“Sta Luċija are a very good side who were leading the standings for much of the season. It was a big win for us as we are now in contention for promotion play-off spot but it will not be easy.
“This week we have two crucial matches against Naxxar on Wednesday and then face leaders Sirens on Sunday that would have a deinite say on whether we can challenge for promotion.”
The final outcome was harsh on Sta Luċija who dominated the match for long stretches, creating the better chances throughout and also having an effort coming off the bar five minutes from time.
Pembroke goalkeeper Philip Schranz was the protagonist with two outstanding saves that kept his team in the match.
The introduction of Moacir De Rosa Wilmsen late on tilted the match in Pembroke’s favour as his surging runs wreaked havoc on Sta Luċija and it was the Brazilian who set up Borg to fire home the winner.
On his part, Marco Glumac, the Sta Luċija coach, lavished praise on Schranz, who he wanted to sign in January.
“Our failure to sign Philip Schranz came back to haunt us,” Glumac said.
“His saves were remarkable, and even managed to block a shot in one-on-one situation. Philip is young, promising and for me the best keeper in Division One.”
Glumac admitted that his team’s struggles to score goals is hurting their cause but of bigger concern for him was that they continued to concede late on.
“This was the third time this year we conceded a goal in injury time, and it’s getting dangerous now,” Glumac said.
“But we are still aiming to finish third in the league. We picked up 30 points in the first round but a string of injuries and bad fortune made us lose points.
“We will now try to regroup and see what went wrong and hopefully we can get back on track. The team needs to be ready for our next match against a Gudja side that wants automatic promotion so we need to roll up our sleeves and work hard.”
PEMBROKE: P. Schranz, K. Borg, G. Muscat, J.P. Mifsud Triganza (81 A. Hili), G. Azzopardi, Z. Grech, T. Fenech, M.A. Borg, I. Misan, J.P. Oliveira Santos (80 M. Da Rosa Wilmsen), G. Claudio Da Silva.
STA LUĊIJA: R. Caruana, M. Caruana, J. Usuga Mendoza (80 L.D. Mosquera), J. Suda (72 P. Lapira ), K. Ante Rosero, J. Magri Overend, K. Pulo, P. Teixeira Maia, L. Galea, K. Camilleri, N. Borg (34 M. Guillari).
Referee: Stefan Pace.
Best Player: Philip Schranz (Pembroke).
SAN ĠWANN 0
SIRENS 2
SAN ĠWANN: C. Formosa, J. Azzopardi, J. Bowman (57 A. Borg), P. Kunzarov (67 N. Melo Ferreira), C. Gauci, J.P. Attard, K. Gatt, J. Tanti (77 A. Cachia), S. Hili, A. Abela, R. De Oliveira.
SIRENS: M. Montfort, K. Farrugia, R. Mandic, D. Sant (80 R. Previ), M. Micallef (57 M. Del Negro), M. Bustos, A. Curmi (73 J. Nwoba ), C. Gauci, I. Adeshina, G. Gesualdi, R. Fenech.
Referee: Emanuel Grech.
Scorer: Adeshina 44, 55.
Best Player: Ige Adeshina (Sirens).
MQABBA 1
NAXXAR LIONS 3
MQABBA: F. Tabone, L. Farrugia (67 F. Gusman), N. Micallef, R. Da Silva Gomes, D. Micallef, G. Micallef, A. Ferreira, B. Grech (86 C. Cutajar), W. Borg, D. Azzopardi, L. Suma (46 J.C. Martins).
NAXXAR: O. Borg, M. Fenech, M. Mifsud, E. Cerqueira Farias, J. Debono, R. Cassar, J. Ellul, A. Buhagiar, S. Nanapere, B. Essel, S. Meilak.
Referee: Andrea Sciriha.
Scorers: Ellul (N) 14; G. Micallef (M) 68; Farias (N) 80, 89.
Best Player: Edson Cerqueira Farias (Naxxar).
SWIEQI UNITED 4
LIJA ATHLETIC 4
SWIEQI: J.C. Debattista, J. Cassar, K. Muscat, K. Sultana, L. Covic (88 H. Hansberg), K. Olowoyo (46 I.A. Margarit), S. Ibrahim, M. Farrugia, S. Bugeja, L. Scicluna, S. Grech (75 K. Ekezie).
LIJA ATHLETIC: R. Marmara, L. Muscat (77 M. Borg Bartolo), D. Scerri, E. Beu, A. Azzopardi (79 G. Borg), A. Borg (85 A. Galea), I. Borg, D. Mintoff, C. Gauci, K. Kuroki, O. Sidibe.
Referee: Ezekiel Barbara.
Scorers: Beu (L) 22; 57 pen.; Ibrahim (S) 25; 76 pen; Azzopardi (L) 44; Margarit (S) 62; Gauci (L) 80; Bugeja (S) 90.
Best Player: Erjon Beu (Lija Athletic).
GUDJA UNITED 3
ŻEJTUN CORINTHIANS 2
GUDJA: J. Debono, J. Bondin, M. Attard, J. Lima, A. Mizzi, S. Diacono (85 D. Santos Da Hora), L.J. Schembri (39 F. Aboulezz), J. Farrugia, L. Cremona, A. Marshall (72 E. Vella), R. Kooh Sohna.
ŻEJTUN: G. Zammit (71 D. Zarb), C. Giordemaina, A. Smeir (54 A. Carabott), G. Sultana, J. Castano, D. Albanese, J. De Fex Rafael, B. Farrugia, N. Tabone, R. Spiteri, A. Farrugia.
Referee: Philip Farrugia.
Scorers: Cremona (G) 44; Marshall (G) 69; Castano (Ż) 74 pen., 84; Santos Da Hora (G) 86.
Best Player: Llywelyn Cremona (Gudja).
ŻEBBUĠ RANGERS 3
MARSA 1
ŻEBBUG: J. Borg, R. Vella, S. Schembri, S. Darmanin, J. Farrugia, S. Buhagiar, M. Camilleri, H. Vella, B. Gregori de Souza (76 K. Tanti), I. Rocha de Souza (90 S. Buttigieg), C. Ze Lucas
MARSA: K. Brincat, L. Camilleri, S. Zampa, O. Cristiani, J. Bonello, R. Gatt De Raffaele, J. Lovegrove, J. Theuma (90 C. Farrugia), S. Briffa, A. Watanebe (90 M. Marra), H. Kawamura
Referee: Slobodan Petrovic.
Scorers: Darmanin (Ż) 33; Kawamura (M) 59 pen.; Schembri (Ż) 67; Caetano Ze Lucas (Ż) 70.
Best Player: Caetano Ze Lucas (Żebbug).
VITTORIOSA 2
QRENDI 4
VITTORIOSA: J. Pisani, I. Abela, C. Spiteri, N. Ojoula, A. Cilia Mumford (46 L. Gauci) (80 A. Galea), J. Briffa, D. Tabone, L. Casha, K. Degiorgio, M. Panzo Barkley, J. Ogunuppe
QRENDI: J. Farrugia, D. Martini (J.Pedro Vargas 46’), D. Micallef (K. Abela 77’), B. Bondin, M. Busuttil, C. Caruana, M. Barbara (L. Brincat 63’), J. Spiteri, D. Sammut, J. Silva Silveira, C. Quaranta.
Referee: Matthew De Gabriele
Scorers: Spiteri (Q) 10; Ojuola (V) 43, 45; Ciro Quaranta (Q) 66 pen., 90; Silva Fausto Silveira (Q) 85.
Best Player: Ciro Quaranta (Qrendi).
Red cards: Casha (V) 66; Abela (V) 90.
NEXT FIXTURES
PLAYING TUESDAY
CENTENARY STADIUM: 18.00 Qrendi vs Swieqi United; 20.15 Lija Athletic vs Marsa.
TEDESCO STADIUM: 19.00 Żejtun Corinthians vs Vittoriosa Stars.
WEDNESDAY
CENTENARY STADIUM: 18.00 San Ġwann vs Żebbuġ Rangers; 20.15 Naxxar Lions vs Pembroke Athleta.
TEDESCO STADIUM: 18.00 Sirens vs Mqabba; 20.15 Sta Luċija vs Gudja United.