Relegated Lija bow out with heavy defeat

Lija Athletic 0
Pieta Hotspurs 3

Lija Athletic bowed out of the Premier League with a painful 3-0 setback to Pietà Hotspurs.

The Reds had flirted all season with relegation and their fate was sealed following their 4-1 reverse to St Patrick a fortnight ago.

Marshalled by coach Ilir Pelinku, Lija will forever remember this season for their shock 1-0 win over champions Sliema Wanderers in the second round.

But otherwise it has been an uphill struggle for the village side even though this was their third experience in the top flight in the past decade. The team managed a meagre 13 goals in 24 matches and conceded a staggering 60 in the process for an average of 2.5 goals suffered per encounter.

The match was a one-sided affair with Pietà creating a string of goal scoring opportunities in both halves with their victory maturing courtesy of first-half goals from Isse Adan Abshir (2) and Stefan Zahra.

After the interval, Pietà kept up the pressure but somehow the Reds managed to repel the efforts of Abshir and substitute Claudio Calleja. Had the Blues converted all their chances that came their way, it would have been like shooting fish in a water-tank.

The match will probably make it to the record books for one of the sparsest crowds ever registered for a league match as it was played in front of an almost empty stadium.

The absence of utility player Pierre Aquilina and defender Andrew Spiteri were inconspicuous as the Hotspurs had enough strength-in-depth to cruise to a comfortable win and wrap up their season on a positive note.

Despite the exodus of key players in the January transfer window, George Deanov still managed to inspire his troops to sail their vessel to safety and condemn newcomers Lija and St Patrick to a quick return to first division football.

With gale force winds sweeping across Ta' Qali, Pietà stormed into the lead on 10 minutes. Carl Sammut teased the Lija rearguard with a menacing cross that the red-shirted players failed to deal with and Abshir was on hand to head home from close range.

Midway through the first half, Abshir provided Zahra with a measured cross as the Pietà forward soared to make contact with the ball only to manage a weak header which was cleared to a corner by Jean Paul Scerri.

On the other end, Anicic should have restored equilibrium as he controlled a difficult ball before disposing off his marker and unleashing a rather poor effort which was easily smothered by Andrew Hogg in the Pietà goal.

The Reds paid dearly for this miss as on 24 minutes they found themselves two goals behind. Senad Repuh launched a long ball which was well controlled by Abshir. The Somali striker was quick to muscle his way into the penalty area and boot a low shot past a helpless Agius.

On the stroke of half time, Sammut fed the ball towards the penalty area, Abshir's powerful surge panicked the Lija defence and Zahra ruthlessly buried the ball into the net to add to his opponents' anguish.

On 55 minutes, Pietà nearly surged further ahead when Silvan Ciscaldi unleashed a powerful shot which was somewhat saved by a struggling Agius.

Substitute Calleja nipped in to connect with the rebound but Agius did manage to skew the ball to thwart the effort as Abshir could easily have notched his hat-trick had he not wastefully concluded over the crossbar from close range.

On 69 minutes, Agius was once again involved in the thick of action as he repelled Calleja's header into a corner.

Both teams introduced their reserve goalkeeper late in the half. Lija's Simon Agius left the pitch in the final quarter for Jonathan Vella and Andrew Hogg followed a minute later to be replaced by Matthew Camilleri.

Pietà did try their utmost to notch the fourth goal but somehow Lanzon and his colleagues held on to avoid a heavier defeat.

Lija: S. Agius-5 ('75 J. Vella), D. Okeke -5 ('46 N. Gatt-5), J.P. Scerri-6, D. Cosaitis-5, G. Lanzon-5, D. Scerri-5, A. Ellul-5 ('61 D. Cremona-5), M. Gatt-5, P. Camilleri-5, J. Vella-5, Z. Anicic-5.

Pietà: A. Hogg-5 ('76 M. Camilleri), C. Okoh-6, B. Sciberras-5, G. Sciberras-5 ('46 M. Abdilla-5), S. Ciscaldi-6, S. Zahra-6 ('46 C. Calleja-6), S. Ortas-6, S. Repuh-6, C. Sammut-7, D. Camenzuli-5, I. Abshir-7.

Referee: Adrian Casha.

Scorers: Abshir 10, 24, Zahra 45.

Player of the Match: Carl Sammut (Pieta Hotspurs).