[attach id=235362 size="large"]St Andrew’s crushed Lija Athletic 8-3 to rejoin
the promotion hunt. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier[/attach]

Lija Athletic 3
St Andrew’s 8

It rained heavily at the Victor Tedesco Stadium yesterday, not only weather-wise but also in terms of goals, as St Andrew’s hammered Lija Athletic 8-3 to revive their promotion challenge.

Trayo Grozev took centre-stage after scoring four goals for the Saints who gained revenge for their 3-0 first-round defeat to Lija.

Lija, who would have gone top of the table if they took the three points yesterday, suffered a severe setback when Erjon Beu was sent off for persistent protests after his team had a penalty appeal turned down by referee Gordon Barbara.

It was Lija who came close after eight minutes when, following a melee inside the area, Abdullahi Adeshina Ige shot straight at Matthew Towns, the St Andrew’s goalkeeper.

The Saints managed to forge ahead in the 14th minute when Rumen Kerekov controlled a Michael Grima cross from the left flank and dribbled past Matthew Fleri Soler before shooting home.

On the half-hour St Andrew’s made it 2-0. Racing on to Nicki Vella Petroni’s long pass, Grozev ran past Matthew Fleri Soler before driving the ball past Luke Bonnici.

Three minutes later the score became 3-0 when Grozev again won a duel with Fleri Soler and slotted the ball home.

Five minutes before the break, Grozev tormented the Lija defence again when he evaded a defender but, instead of passing to the unmarked Vella Petroni, he opted to shoot and his effort sailed high.

Late in the first half, Lija’s Beppe Antignolo found Andre Scicluna in the box and the latter’s attempt appeared to come off Michael Johnson’s hand. The referee waved play on despite Lija’s strong protests which led to Beu being given his marching orders.

St Andrew’s made it 4-0 two minutes into the second half. And what a well-worked goal it was, Kerekov firing home from just inside the area after a good move between Grozev, Grima and Vella Petroni.

On 64 minutes, Antignolo managed to pull one back for Lija when he sneaked past two defenders before beating Towns. A minute later, Timothy Fleri Soler headed home from a corner after Towns mistimed his sortie.

Lija kept pushing forward. With 21 minutes left, they reduced the deficit to just one goal, Leontiev Konda heading home an Antignolo corner.

But, St Andrew’s soon made it 5-3 when, from a Joseph Farrugia free-kick, Scicluna’s headed clearance fell into the path of Johnson who nodded in from underneath the crossbar.

Ten minutes from time, Grozev completed his hat-trick with a low shot from just inside the area following good work by Vella Petroni. With four minutes to go, it was Grozev again who scored his fourth after dribbling past two defenders before hitting low into the net.

Two minutes into added time, William Camilleri got St Andrew’s eighth with a screamer from just outside the area, surely the pick of the lot.

Lija: L. Bonnici, C. Giordimaina (A. Mercieca), M. Fleri Soler, D. Scerri, E. Beu, D. Vukovic (T. Vukovic), L. Konda, B. Fenech (A. Sacco), A. Scicluna, B. Antignolo, A. Ige.

St Andrew’s: M. Towns, N. Chetcuti, B. Diacono, B. Said, M. Johnson, J. Farrugia, N. Vella Petroni (M. Hyzler), W. Camilleri, M. Grima (J. Falzon), R. Kerekov, T. Grozev.

Referee: Gordon Barbara.

Man of the match: Trayo Grozev (St Andrew’s).

Standings