MQABBA 1
VITTORIOSA STARS 1
Mqabba midfielder Kurt Magro believes his team is still not out of contention to stay in Division One despite the tough season the team has endured so far which leaves them tied in last place on 15 points.
George Vella’s side has hovered around the relegation area for most of the season and Magro admitted that the point gained against Vittoriosa in a 1-1 draw at the Centenary Stadium on Sunday still means a lot to their fight against the drop.
Following Fgura United’s win on Saturday against promotion hopefuls Qrendi, which pushed them up from the bottom spot, the pressure was on Vittoriosa and Mqabba to follow suit but this draw keeps them a point apart and stuck in 11th and 13th place respectively, both level on points with the team below each of them.
“Fixing our situation is a mentality thing. Automatically, when we get a win, our level of football rises, mentally we become better,” the former Valletta man told the Times of Malta.
“We’re waiting for that win which can get us out of the ugly position which, we have to admit, we’re in. But I believe we’ll get out of it.”
Supporters had to wait until the 70th minute to see the score opened after a drab first half as Alexsandro Ferreira put Mqabba ahead from the spot but Vittoriosa got their deserved equaliser 11 minutes later through substitute Haruna Shola Shodija.
Magro, who joined the team from St Andrews over the summer, expressed satisfaction in the way Mqabba handled the match against Vittoriosa.
“I think both teams are on a similar level and I think we played well,” Magro said.
“We need a lot of points right now and what’s happening is we’re scoring but not managing to hold onto the lead which I guess comes from a lack of experience.
“This season we have quite a lot of young players and so they don’t have that much experience. But this draw was good for us and I’m happy with our performance.”
Vittoriosa were visibly more dangerous in the opening 45 minutes, having had the majority of chances on the attack while also appearing solid in defence. The latter allowed just two shots at their goal which barely troubled goalkeeper Dorian Bugeja.
However, by the end of the half, stalemate was a respectable outcome as they themselves were not clinical enough to get through.
The Stars started the second half in the same manner but rued their missed opportunities as after the hour, Mqabba produced their first real threat from a Magro free-kick which Bugeja had to stretch to at least push the ball into a corner.
This boosted the hosts and just four minutes later, the Vittoriosa custodian was forced into another diving save from a Dia Najm shot. But this meant nothing when during the same action, Ferreira was pulled inside the area and referee Aleksandar Jovanovic pointed to the spot.
Ferreira hit the ball just past Bugeja’s finger tips into the bottom corner from the spot and put Mqabba in front.
But Vittoriosa responded with a swift team play right into the final ten minutes when Shodija, who had been introduced midway into the half, pushed through a crowded defence, playing an accurate wall-pass to fellow second-half substitute Leonardo Barbosa, exploiting the area and beating Mqabba shotstopper Fredrick Tabone with his shot to make the score level again.
Mqabba had a golden opportunity to win it at the death but Andrei Spiteri’s first time shot right in front of goal flew well over the bar.
MQABBA: F. Tabone, M. Caruana, B. Grech, D. Micallef, M. Brincat (66 K. Xuereb), N. Dia (83 S. Kanayama), A. Ferreira, K. Magro, E. Sala, A. Spiteri, G. Micallef (91 F. Zammit).
VITTORIOSA: D. Bugeja, C. Spiteri, J. Briffa, I. Abela, D. Grima, D. Tabone, J. Pace (70 G. Sultana), O. Guerrero (61 L. Barbosa), R. Farias (61 H. Shodiya), L. Casha, O. Sidibe.
Referee: Aleksandar Jovanovic
Scorers: Ferreira (M) 70 pen.; Shodiya (V) 81.
Best Player: Oscar Guerrero (Vittoriosa Stars).
SUMMARIES
ST ANDREWS 1
SWIEQI UNITED 1
ST ANDREWS: N. Grima, I. Azzopardi, N. Bradshaw (69 J. Sixsmith), J. Farrugia, M. Bartolo, M. Potezica, A. Borg Olivier, C. Attah, L. Borg (86 M. Vella Vidal), D. Jackson, M. Veselji.
SWIEQI: C. Abdilla, M. Attard, M. Ivanovic (74 T. Ayorinde), M. Farrugia, S. Gatt Baldacchino (63 F. Lufi), K. Muscat, M. Vella (74 S. Bugeja), C. Matombo, A. Schembri Wismayer, I. Salis, L. Grech.
Referee: Sandro Spiteri.
Scorers: Veselji (SA) 69; Salis (SU) 85.
QRENDI 1
FGURA UNITED 3
QRENDI: D. Zarb, D. Micallef (66 L. Martinelli), S. Schembri, A. Agius, B. Muscat, D. Azzopardi, S. Perdomo, D. Sammut, L. Schembri (46 C. Camilleri), J. Pereira (66) A. Nilsson.
FGURA: B. Bartolo, J. Cassar, J. Vella, C. Gandini, P. Chircop, J. Barbara, S. Abela, A. Toncheff, D. Cartella (81 G. Ferreira), G. Martin (91 M. Vella), G. Galea (89 T. Grech).
Referee: Shaun Calleja.
Scorers: Galea (F) 1, 22; Pereira (Q) 9; Cartella (F) 44.
LIJA ATHLETIC 1
PIETÀ 1
LIJA: L. Bonnici, A. White, L. Muscat, D. Scerri (73 G. Bugeja), C. Giordimaina, C. Cassar, C. Gauci, K. Seakenyang, R. Fenech (61 M. Clinch), E. Beu, F. Temile (73 A. Galea).
PIETÀ: J. Chircop St John, T. Bartolo, J. Irimiya, S. Mizzi, D. Vukovic, C. Sammut, N. Pace Cocks, K. Amehi, J. Scicluna (90 N. Pisani), J. Ghio (81 C. Bouvet), C. Ze Lucas.
Referee: Alex Johnson.
Scorers: Ze Lucas (P) 38; Beu (L) 64.
Red card: White (L) 55.
PEMBROKE ATHLETA 0
ST GEORGE’S 0
PEMBROKE: M. Bonnici, M. Borg, A. Vujovic, N. Grech (73 G. Azzopardi), Z. Grech, N. Frendo (59 K. Borg), T. Fenech, P. Santos, Y. Tonna, M. Zarb (88 K. Frendo), L. Mijic.
ST GEORGE’S: L. Mifsud, K. Camilleri, J. Grech, A. Hili, A. Marshall, A. Gili, R. Villada, G. D’Amato, L. Bonett, B. Dias (76 S. Le Metayar), D. Caruana.
Referee: Alex Johnson.
QORMI 1
ŻEJTUN CORINTHIANS 0
QORMI: J. Azzopardi, A. Abela, A. Cassar, R. Mandic, N. Ghio, F. Fladby, F. Gnindokponou, M. Borg, N. Borg (87 C. Farrugia), I. Zammit (77 N. Gauci), B. Schembri (46 L. Farrugia).
ŻEJTUN: C. Cassar, C. Grech, D. Sowatey (77 R. Mariaga), K. Farrugia, N. Tabone, D. Agius (57 A. Carabott), G. Azzopardi, B. Farrugia, M. Pereira, J. Suda, J. Ogunnupe (69 M. Jallow).
Referee: Ezekiel Barbara.
Scorer: Farrugia (Q) 60.
ŻEBBUĠ RANGERS 2
NAXXAR LIONS 0
Żebbuġ: M. Grech, C. Brincat, D. Fava, R. Vella, R. Zammit, W. Borg (90 G. Gesualdi), S. Buhagiar, O. Ojuola, M. Del Negro, L. Chiedozie, M. Fagbeja (85 J. Farrugia).
Naxxar: O. Borg, J. Sciberras, A. Azzopardi, B. Essel (73 A. Bello Osagie), M. Fenech, A. Azzopardi, M. Mifsud, J. Ellul (85 S. Meilak), D. Falzon, E. Farias, G. Martins.
Referee: Daniel Casha.
Scorers: Fagbeja 25, Vella 90.