Mosta 1
Pietà Hotspurs 1
Mosta’s promotion aspirations were severely jolted yesterday when they were held to a one-all draw by modest Pietà.
The Blues only have one other match to play. They are now equal on points with other promotion candidates Melita and Mqabba but the latter two have a game in hand.
Regulars Sheldon Grech, Quilin Refalo and goalkeeper Miguel Montfort were missing for the Hotspurs but they were never outplayed by Mosta who saw more of the ball only to find it hard to carve openings, particularly in the last 15 minutes.
Zack Muscat went close for Pietà early on and Mosta hit back with an Adrian Borg shot that was stopped by reliable stand-in keeper Kersten Vella.
Mosta started to push more men forward and took the lead on 12 minutes when Gilbert Martin was brought down by Christian Grech in the box and Mark Briggs scored from the penalty.
Pietà did not lie back, however. They ventured forward in search of an equaliser and achieved their objective a few minutes later thanks to Muscat who headed in from a free-kick.
Robson Luiz Bandeira was giving Mosta a hard time and on 27 minutes his first-time effort from the edge of the area was saved by Jonathan Debono. The Brazilian threatened again soon after but the Mosta keeper dived at his feet to avert danger.
Five minutes from the break a Martin delivery from the right found Nikola Bogdanovic whose close-range effort was saved by Vella.
The second half was less hectic but Lee Grima could have given Mosta the lead only to hit badly from three metres out.
The Blues were doing all the attacking in the late stages of the match. Simon Shead missed a sitter when he miscued his shot in front of goal and Vella made another fine save off Martin who was put through by Shead.
The Hotspurs keeper was at it again to deny Briggs as Mosta tried their best to score a late winner but the Pietà rearguard never conceded an inch.
Mosta: J. Debono, M. Brincat (A. Cini), K. Farrugia, M. Briggs, G. Martin, L. Grima (V. Osobu), A. Borg, N. Bogdanovic, B. Agius (L. Micallef), W. Camenzuli, S. Shead.
Pietà: K. Vella, D. Owuo, C. Grech, T. Agius (S. Micallef), R. Bandeira (J. Azzopardi), Z. Mus-cat, C. Cassar (B. Sciberras), L. Mallia, D. Mifsud, I. Grech, D. Camilleri.
Referee: Glenn Tonna.
Man of the match: Kersten Vella (Pietà Hotspurs).
St Andrew’s 2
Msida St Joseph 1
After holding promotion contenders Mqabba to a draw in their previous match, more was ex-pected of Msida against St An-drew’s but the bottom team again came a cropper yesterday.
Msida’s young players never stopped running but St Andrew’s are a better team and had Jon Paul Calleja in real fine form.
This was St Andrew’s fifth win of the season and their only double so far.
St Andrew’s went all out for an early goal and a Faisal Anakua header from a Calleja cross was saved by keeper Daniel Borda.
Msida had a Dylan Vassallo shot stopped by Filippo Carandente on the ground.
On 18 minutes, Morgan Onourah won possession inside the Msida box and hit first-time but the shot whizzed past the upright.
Two minutes later Msida won a penalty when the towering Ronnie Hartvig was punished for pushing the diminutive Vassallo in the box. Karl Saliba stepped up to score and put Msida in front.
But St Andrew’s reacted immediately and Onourah slotted home the equaliser from a Calleja cross on 23 minutes.
A few minutes later, Calleja delivered a cross from the left, the ball hit Lydon Micallef and finished in the back of the Msida net for St Andrew’s to take a 2-1 lead.
Calleja was unlucky just before the break to see his shot hitting the upright before a Borda save to keep out Anakua’s header.
Msida were reduced to ten players on 55 minutes when Lyden Micallef received a second booking.
That was the end of the contest as St Andrew’s could have added further gloss to their victory only for the post to deny William Camilleri and Hartvig seeing his penalty on 76 minutes saved by Borda.
St Andrew’s: F. Carandente, G. Fenech, P. Briscoe White, R. Hartvig, J. Bugeja, J. Briscoe White, A. Amato (L. Cesareo), F. Anakua, J.P. Calleja, W. Camilleri, M. Onourah (K. Coleiro).
Msida: D. Borda, M. Borda, L. Micallef, R. Xuereb, L. Cassar, M. Harper, C. Cutajar (L. Micallef), D. Vassallo, C. Zammit (D. Debono), P. Sakchai, K. Saliba (C. Cioffi).
Referee: Mario Apap.
Man of the match: Jon Paul Calleja (St Andrew’s).