First league victory for St Patrick as St Andrews frustrate Marsa

St Patrick 4
Naxxar Lions 1

St Patrick registered their first win of the season when they thumped Naxxar Lions at the Centenary Stadium.

Buoyed by their FA Trophy win against Premier League side Mosta in their last outing, Bobby Giorev's side showed class and resilience. The Saints were all over their opponents in the first half and deservedly went into the break ahead.

Naxxar came back strongly after the interval as they looked to turn the match in their favour. But somehow St Patrick managed to keep at bay their opponents and even went on to hit two other goals that assured them of the three points.

It was Naxxar who created the first chance of the match, a Simon Muscat header just missing the target.

The Saints' reply arrived on 18 minutes when Robert Cassar's free-kick finished just wide. The Zabbar side broke the stalemate on 35 minutes. Thomas Caruana set up Karl Micallef who flicked the ball past Naxxar goalkeeper Reuben Cini.

It was all St Patrick now and it was no surprise when they scored their second goal on 43 minutes. Caruana profited from some poor defending and fired the ball home from close in.

Naxxar were back in the match in the 44th minute when they were awarded a dubious penalty for a foul on Chima Dozie. The Nigerian forward made no mistake from the spot.

The Lions stepped up a gear after the break and were unlucky not to draw level early in the second half when Camilleri and Muscat hit the bar.

However, it was St Patrick who scored a third in the 50th minute. Tanti was brought down in the area by Muscat and the same player cooly converted from the spot.

St Patrick made sure of the points late on when Tanti fired the ball home with a fine overhead kick.

St. Patrick: S. Mintoff, R. Cassar, M. Zerafa, M. Fleri Soler, S. Costa Brazilino (G. Scerri), M. Tanti, K. Micallef, T. Caruana, C. Micallef, M. Xerri (K. Bonnici), A. Caruana.

Naxxar Lions: R. Cini, J. Borg (M. Gauci), V. Bellia, S. Muscat, G. Naudi, R. Schembri, J. Zammit, K. Fenech, G. Camilleri, C. Dozie, G. Magri (K. Grech).

Referee: Saviour Tanti.

Marsa 1
St Andrews 1

Marsa dropped two precious points when they were held by lowly St Andrews.

The two teams were facing each other for the second time in a space of a week. Last Sunday, Marsa had beaten the Saints 1-0 in an FA Trophy first round match but yesterday Michael Molzahn's men found the going tough against St Andrews.

Marsa found themselves behind late in the first half and although they managed to draw level they could not find a second goal and had to settle for a point.

The result left Marsa second in the table, one point adrift of leaders St George's who have a game in hand.

Early on, Marsa goalkeeper Ivan Casha did well to keep out Mark Hyzler's shot.

From then on there were few goalscoring opportunities with the respective defences enjoying the upperhand on the forwards.

A minute from the break, St Andrews took the lead. Michael Mangion was brought down in the area by Graham Bencini and from the resultant spot-kick Joe Sant Fournier gave Ivan Casha no chance.

After the break, Molzahn roped in Daniel Gatt and Timmy Thomas in place of Nicky Fasanelli and Joe Casha, and these substitutions reaped the desired dividends for Marsa.

In fact five minutes into the second half, Martin retrieved possession and sent a teasing ball towards Rio Micallef who beat Jonathan Debono with a looping header.

A minute later, Martin tried his luck from outside the area but this time Debono saved well.

Now Marsa were pushing forward for the winner, with Thomas beating the offside trap but all alone in front of goal shot wide.

Both teams were denied by the woodwork late on, Rashid hitting the Marsa bar and at the other end Martin's shot was stopped by the upright.

Marsa: I. Casha, G. Bencini, N. Slavchev, N. Fasinelli (D. Gatt), G. Martin, K. Cassar, K. Scerri, S. Meilaq, J. Casha (Tim. Thomas), J.P. Zammit, R. Micallef.

St Andrews: J. Debono, I. Borg, Arnold Galea, S. Falzon, J. Sank, R. Briffa, J. Sant Fournier, M. Mangion, S. Rashid, Anthony Galea, M. Hyzler.

Referee: Edward Spiteri.