St Patrick 1
Mosta 1

Veteran Daniel Theuma could not have enjoyed a better comeback to competitive football yesterday.

Heeding Mosta's call to come out of retirement after work commitments had forced him to quit Pietà Hotspurs, Theuma had a memorable debut as his injury-time goal salvaged a point for his new club.

Theuma's late strike spoiled the day for St Patrick who were thus denied a victory that would surely have bolstered their promotion chances.

Although Mosta were relieved to avoid defeat, they failed to improve their lowly position in the standings.

Mosta, who had shown such promise after knocking Floriana out of the FA Trophy in November, came into this match after a miserable run of six games without a win - five defeats and a draw.

Mosta were all over St Patrick in the first half. After only four minutes, a Carlos Camenzuli header was saved by David Cassar.

Cassar dealt with everything Mosta threw at him in the early stages and he further distinguished himself on 20 minutes with a fine save from a strong shot by Theuma.

On the half hour, Mosta should have moved ahead when Lydon Cilia found Anthony Ewurum on the edge of the area but the diagonal strike from the former Marsa forward was stopped by Cassar.

A good interchange between Mario Abela and Ewurum ended with the latter shooting towards goal but Cassar saved again.

In the dying minutes of the first half, the St Patrick goalkeeper made another fine intervention from an Abela cross-shot.

The first scoring threat from St Patrick came after 50 minutes when a Gordon Failla free-kick was trapped by Joshua Galea.

Surprisingly, St Patrick took the lead in the 57th minute. Simon Zerafa provided the assist from a free-kick and Kenneth Abela headed home his 11th goal of the season to consolidate his position at the top of the scorers' list.

Mosta lost their way after conceding against the run of play and St Patrick almost doubled their lead 20 minutes from time.

Abela shot hard from 30 metres but his effort just missed the target.

Two minutes later a Philip Camilleri free-kick for Mosta was headed on by Steve Borg but Cassar tipped the ball away for a corner.

Theuma, who injured his arm earlier in the game, twice hit over from free-kicks.

In stoppage time, Mosta were unlucky not to draw level when Cilia's free-kick was palmed on to the crossbar by Cassar. But, at the death, Mosta's efforts were finally rewarded.

Trying his luck once again from a free-kick, Theuma at last hit the jackpot much to the relief of the entire Mosta clan.

St Patrick: D. Cassar, S. Dimech, R. Cassar, M. Zerafa, S. Zerafa, G. Failla (M. Scerri), S. Magro, V. Camilleri, C. Micallef (M. Pullicino) E. Saliba, K. Abela (K. Coleiro).

Mosta: J. Galea, M. Abela, B. Agius (C. Pace), M. Borg (P. Camilleri), S. Borg, M. Brincat, C. Camenzuli, L. Cilia, B. Galea, A. Ewurum, D. Theuma

Referee: Edward Spiteri.

Man of the Match: David Cassar (St Patrick).