St George's 1
Senglea Athletic 2
Ibrahim Tarek scored with a magnificent scissor-kick yesterday to give relegation strugglers Senglea Athletic a dramatic 2-1 win over rivals St George's.
The team from Cospicua found the going tough against Senglea for whom Essien Mbong and Osbert Ellul excelled in midfield.
Senglea's early pressure yesterday produced a flurry of corners. On 10 minutes, St George's goalkeeper Thomas Galea fisted away a dangerous corner by Ellul.
The Yellow-Reds continued to dictate matters and it came as no surprise when they took the lead in the 16th minute. Daniel Cosaitis's initial drive was cleared off the line by Edgar Degabriele but from the rebound, the same player made no mistake.
St George's made a feisty reaction. On the half hour, Joey Falzon's men might have equalised when John Nwoba made a good run on the flank before crossing for the unmarked Silvio Sciberras whose effort was blocked by Simon Aquilina.
Senglea were now finding it hard to contain their opponents' pressure. Iro Curmi set up Nwoba but the Nigerian was thwarted by Senglea keeper George Attard.
The score became 1-1 on the stroke of half-time when Benoir Fenech outjumped Attard to head home from a Mark Gauci free-kick.
Early in the second half, the Saints could have forged ahead when a Fenech cross-shot came off Nwoba and sailed towards goal but Attard produced an excellent one-handed save to push the ball away.
On 57 minutes, a good one-two between Nwoba and Glenn Bonello ended with the former hitting a shot from 18 metres out but the ball flew wide.
Senglea replied on 65 minutes with an Mbong header from an Ellul corner. Thereafter, the game died down but it came back to life in the final 10 minutes.
Senglea came close to regaining the lead when Tarek ran past two defenders on the right but his cross was missed by both Ellul and Leeroy Bonett.
A minute later, Nwoba finished off a strong run with a good first-time effort but Attard saved. With six minutes to go, Fenech looked to have sealed it for the Saints when he headed home from a corner but the goal was disallowed by referee Paul Apap who ruled that the scorer had pushed an opponent.
Senglea then struck the killer blow in the dying moments when Ellul crossed into the Saints' box and Tarek beat Galea with an acrobatic volley.
Senglea Athletic
G. Attard, S. Aquilina, S. Zampa, D. Cosaitis (D. Zahra), A. Sciortino, J. Felice (L. Bonett), E. Mbong, I. Tarek (J. Abela), B. Zerafa, O. Ellul, E. Azzopardi.
St George's
T. Galea, S. Sciberras (V. Camilleri), E. Degabriele, M. Sevasta, C. Schiavone, I. Curmi, J. Nwoba, M. Gauci, B. Fenech, H. Schembri, G. Bonello.
Referee: Paul Apap.
Man of the match: Essien Mbong (Senglea).