Sannat Lions back on song

Qala St Joseph 0
Sannat Lions 2

Sannat were back to winning ways to go top in the standings even though they failed to shine against lowly Qala who had keeper Ini Aktpan making his debut.

The Lions, who played one match more than Nadur, kept Qala busy with fast breaks and shots from Ricardo Saverino, Noel Borg and Cristiano de Oliveira.

They opened the score in the 37th minute when Saverino released Silvan Galea who scored with relative ease.

Qala went close to level matters seconds from half-time but a Rufin Oba free-kick ended just wide.

Sannat showed better qualities after the break and doubled the score in the 68th minute following a penalty, scored by Saverino, after the Brazilian was tripped inside the Saints' box.

Qala found it hard to pose any kind of threat to Sannat. On one occasion a header by Oba almost deceived goalkeeper Galea.

Qala St Joseph: I. Aktpan, B. Portelli, I. Grech, P. Camilleri, M. Bonello, D. Abela, M. Mifsud, R. Oba, J. Xerri, K. Mercieca, P. Said (C. Attard).

Sannat Lions: P. Galea, A. Debono, M. Formosa (J. Agius), F. Magrin, P. Spiteri (M. Azzopardi), C. de Oliveira, J. Vella, S. Galea (E. Grima), M. Muscat, N. Borg, R. Saverino.

Referee: Reno Refalo

Xaghra United 3
Xewkija Tigers 1

Xaghra made up for the defeat to Xewkija in the first round to go third in the standings. It was a hard earned victory for Xaghra despite dictating matters for long stretches.

Joseph Grima distinguished himself with fine saves in the first half as Chris Camilleri, Anthony Evi Parker and John Camilleri were all thwarted by the Xewkija goalkeeper.

Xaghra took several minutes to switch into mode after the restart as the Tigers looked in better shape. In the 61st minute, Xewkija opened the score through Edmond Tchawou and held on against their opponents' onslaught.

The woodwork came to Xewkija's rescue on three occasions in the space of a minute before the bottom-placed side finished with a player less when Andrew Said was red-carded on 66 minutes.

Xaghra made the extra player factor count immediately as they turned the result in their favour with an Anthony Evi Parker brace on 72 and 85 minutes.

Xewkija ventured forward in their bid to save the match but that played in Xaghra's hands as one minute from time Joseph Vella made it 3-1.

Xaghra: D. Gauci, Z. Milosevic, A. Evi Parker, J. Attard, J. Camilleri (J. Vella), C. Camilleri, S. Sultana, J. Sultana (E. Nkwocha), B. Njoku, J. Galea, D. Attard (J. Bartolo).

Xewkija: J. Grima, S. Farrugia, P. Camilleri, A. Said, M. Pace, A. Fotso, J. Cefai, R. Said (J. Dingli), J. Buhagiar, J. Azzopardi (P. Rapa), E. Tchawou (R. Buttigieg).

Referee: George Portelli.

Division Two

Victoria Hotspurs suffered an unexpected defeat against Gharb Rangers in their last match from the second round to lose their unbeaten record.

Gharb won a high-scoring game 5-3 and are now back in the hunt for the runners-up position.

Rangers opened a two-goal lead during the first period with goals from Abdul Mutalib and Kamel Edgeli.

The Hotspurs, however, turned the result in their favour with three goals, all from penalties, scored by Fabiano Bassi.

Gharb were not demoralised though and Mutalib made it 3-3 in the 81st minute.

Mutalib scored again one minute from time and Edgeli sealed the issue in the third minute of stoppage time.

Victoria had Reuben Mercieca sent off before Edgeli's second goal.

The last match of the second round also ended with a surprising 1-0 victory by Zebbug Rovers over Oratory Youths.

The decisive goal came from a penalty scored by Manwel Cordina in the 50th minute. The Rovers had Christian Bugeja sent off three minutes from time.