Vittoriosa Stars 4
St Patrick 0
Vittoriosa Stars found little difficulty in disposing of St Patrick to continue with their quest for a promotion place.
After losing to St George's and Melita in their previous outings, the Stars bounced back yesterday to beat a poor St Patrick side that rarely threatened, particularly in attack. Following this latest upset, Alfred Attard's men are still embroiled in the fight to avoid the drop.
The initial stages of the game were devoid of action with both sides opting for a cautious approach and it was St Patrick who had the first shot at goal when Matthew Fleri Soler tried his luck following a Gordon Failla corner but his effort flew wide.
Vittoriosa scored in their first real shot on goal and this came in the 24th minute when Leontin Chitescu's delivery was headed home by veteran defender Jeffrey Chetcuti.
St Patrick tried to react and on 34 minutes Failla's drive was blocked by a defender and from the rebound it was Thomas Caruana who saw his shot going just wide.
Three minutes before the break Vittoriosa made it-2-0.
Beppe Muscat did it all on his own before finding space just outside the Saints box to shoot low into the net, the ball going in via the foot of the post following keeper Sean Mintoff's attempt to save.
Vittoriosa looked the dominant force in the second half and made it 3-0 on 53 minutes thanks to a Chitescu goal after a perfect pass from Jonathan Xerri.
St Patrick were unlucky not to have reduced the arrears a few minutes after Chitescu's goal when a Juergen Farrugia header, from a corner, was cleared off the line by Justin Camilleri with Stars keeper Henry Bonello beaten.
On 67 minutes, Bonello was on the right spot to keep out an Alex Ellul piledriver from outside the penalty area but 11 minutes from time Vittoriosa sealed the issue with a fourth goal scored by Henry Makinwa. He headed home an Elton Vella centre to round off a perfect afternoon for his team.
Vittoriosa: H. Bonello, J. Camilleri, P. Camilleri, B. Bonnici, J. Xerri, J. Chetcuti, G. Inguanez (C. Micallef,), B. Muscat, L. Chitescu (W. Grech) J. Chetcuti (E. Vella,), H. Makinwa.
St Patrick: S. Mintoff, M. Pullicino, D. Gauci, M. Fleri Soler (D. Pace), L. Sciberras (A. Ellul), S. Dimech, J. Farrugia, T. Caruana (R. Cassar), D. Milovanovic, G. Failla, Y. Tonna.
i Chris Lautier.
Man of the match: Jeffrey Chetcuti (Vittoriosa Stars).