St. Andrews edge past Tarxien

St. Andrews returned to winning ways as they defeated Tarxien Rainbows 1-0 at the Hibernians Stadium on Saturday.

A first win for St. Andrews in over three months and a fourth consecutive 0-1 defeat for Tarxien who now lie just two points ahead of the Saints.

St. Andrews had one change as Felix Okon Udoh replaced the suspended Godwin Mckay while for Tarxien, Alex da Paixao Alves and Sacha Borg replaced Ayrton Azzopardi and Kurt Zammit.

The Saints scored the all-important goal one minute in added time, before the end of the first half when a Ziga Kastrevec effort was deflected into a corner and from the resulting corner by Ivan Paz from the right, Michael Johnson headed the ball home from close range.

ST. ANDREWS Jake Galea, Bong Won Che, Michael Johnson, Karlo Kesinovic, Felix Okon Udoh, Nenad Belacevic (90+2’ Ryan Darmanin), Ivan Edgardo Paz, Ziga Kastrevec, Joseph Farrugia, Aiden Friggieri (81’ Jacob Walker), Kyrian Nwoko (73’ Dale Camilleri).
Subs not used: Dean Sciberras, Liam Grech, Jamie Magri Overend, Daniel Brandle.
Coach: Danilo Doncic

TARXIEN Philip Schranz, Ebiabowei Baker, Emerson Marcelina, Triston Caruana (73’ Dylan Micallef), Daniel Ponce de Leon Garcia (69’ Julian Galea), Alex Nilsson, Andrew Agius (57’ Ayrton Azzopardi), Daniel Zerafa, Alex da Paixao Alves, Matthew Tabone, Sacha Borg.
Subs not used: Andrea Cassar, Matthew Brincat, Gilbert Testaferrata de Noto, Sergio Fernandez Prendes.
Coach: Jesmond Zerafa

Referee: Sandro Spiteri
Assitant Referees: Edward Spiteri, Ryan Aquilina
Fourth Official: Clayton Pisani
Yellow Cards: Johnson, Borg
BOV Player of the Match: Michael Johnson
Attendance at the Hibernians Stadium: 423

Meanwhile at the National Stadium, Hibernians found no difficulty in beating Mosta 4-0 to move top in the BOV Premier League table.

The Paolites took the lead on the 8th minute when off a corner, Failla served Gilmar Ribeiro da Silva whose rising shot from a close angle ended in the top corner.

Hibs doubled the score on the 21st minute thanks to an own goal after Heron Guilhermino Miranda deflected a diagonal shot by Jorge Pereira da Silva following a freekick by Gilmar and an assist by Failla.

On the 31st minute, Bjorn Kristensen made it 3-0 with a shot from midfield which bounced over goalkeeper Yenz Cini after Jurgen Degabriele failed to connect.

Hibs added a fourth goal eight minutes in the second half when Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro slotted the ball past Cini following a low cross by Marcelo Dias.

HIBS Andrew Hogg, Rodolfo Soares, Dejan Boljevic, Marcelo Dias (80’ Dunstan Vella), Jackson de Lima Siqueira, Clayton Failla (59’ Montell Moore), Bjorn Kristensen, Jorge da Silva Pereira (69’ Johann Bezzina), Jurgen Degabriele, Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro, Andrei Agius.
Subs not used: Rudy Briffa, Kieran Xuereb, Conner Zammit, Andre Azzopardi.
Coach: Mark Miller

MOSTA Yenz Cini, Mario Toth, Kyle Frendo, Njongo Priso Doding (75’ Kemar Reid), Adrian Caruana, Zachary Brincat (68’ Kemmu Degran Jackson), Chinatu Francis Onwudinjo, David Fenech, Tyrone Farrugia, Heron Guilhermino Miranda (60’ Neil Frendo), Cesar Romero.
Subs not used: Andreas Vella, Luke Galea, Nicky Farrugia, Emerson Vella,
Coach: Zsolt Hornyak

Referee: Etienne Mangion
Assistant Referees: Luke Portelli, Chris Azzopardi
Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Yellow Cards: Onwudinjo
BOV Player of the Match: Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro
Attendence at the National Stadium: 724

Renato Vella reporting from the National Stadium