Futsal: Valletta, Luxol march on

Title challengers Luxol St Andrew’s and Valletta obtained important victories in the Gatorade Futsal League.

Luxol beat Qrendi 22-0 to maintain their perfect start of the campaign. The St Andrew’s side hit the ground running, scoring comprehensively through Andy Mangion who netted a poker, Mark Zammit’s hat-trick, six braces by Zvezdan Vukovic, Frane Despotovic, Carl Azzopardi, Nicola del Re, Glenn Bonello and Giancarlo Sammut while Emil Raducu and an own goal added to their impressive tally.

Valletta proved too strong for Msida, winning 11-2. Raphael Felipe Ortiz de Oliveira produced another masterful performance as he scored four goals, Jovica Milijic grabbed a hat-trick, Denis di Maio hit the target twice while Dylan Musu and an own goal completed the score for the Citizens. Armando Gjepali and George Frendo scored the consolation goals for Msida.

Safi San Lorenzo finally broke their duck in the Gatorade Futsal League after crushing neighbours Zurrieq Wolves 11-1 for their first win of the season. Safi played a possession game with the experienced Clive Calleja an inspiration for his team mates as he marshalled his team’s defence and also ventured forward, particularly on the right wing, when Safi attacked. Calleja provided five assists to his team mates as Safi had Sean Vella netting a poker, Jonathan Bellizzi and Terrence Cachia were twice on the mark with the other goals coming from Franklin Seisun, Desmond Kind and Wayne Hamer.

University of Malta returned to winning ways after an 8-0 mauling of bottom team Swieqi Under 21. The University students’ success was never in doubt after cruising to a 5-0 advantage before the half-time break. The pattern of the match did not change after the interval as their Serbian talisman Djordje Maksimovic and Jake Azzopardi shot into the limelight with two goals.
Andrea Farrugia, Martin Caruana, Leo Muscat and Luca Zarb (own goal) also put their names on the score sheet for UOM.

Marsaskala Construct Furniture grabbed the first points of the season after edging past Tarxien JMI 5-3. The Southseasiders produced their best performance of the season and managed to halt their opponents while scoring the goals that mattered in the crucial minutes of the match.Tarxien, who suffered their third successive defeat of the campaign, were left fuming after producing another great display which however was not enough to secure some points. Reuben Degabriele was twice on the target for Marsaskala while Denzil Pisani, Franklin Abela and Ryan Mifsud were also on the mark. Tarxien JMI had Silio Saliba hitting the target twice while Michele Bucciano added another one.

Photo: Copyright © Joe Borg