BOV Division 1: Lija Athletic crowned champions as Senglea stage brilliant comeback against Naxxar

Lija Athletic were crowned BOV First Division champions after defeating Mqabba 2-1 at the Centenary Stadium on Saturday with Naxxar Lions losing 2-4 to Senglea Athletic at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Lee Joe Schembri put Lija ahead on the 19th minute and Erjon Beu converted a penalty just before half-time. Lyden Micallef pulled one back six minutes in the second half.

Charles Azzopardi – Head PR and Marketing at Bank of Valletta and Angelo Chetcuti – General Secretary of the Malta Football Association presented the trophy to the champions.

Senglea Athletic came back from two goals down to beat Naxxar Lions 4-2. Senglea therefore take the runner-up spot with Naxxar Lions, who were sharing the top spot with Lija in recent weeks, taking third place.

Following a goalless first half, a brace by Joel Ellul on the 49th and 54th gave Naxxar a two-goal lead. Senglea reduced the gap on the 64th minute thanks to a Juninho Cabral penalty, Mark Anthony Borg equalised on the 78th minute and Juninho Cabral converted another penalty to make it 3-2 for Steve D’Amato’s side three minutes later. Austin Obaje Smith made it 4-2 six minutes from time.

Meanwhile Qormi finished fourth despite a 1-2 defeat to Sirens at the Luxol Stadium. Charles Newuche Nnaemeka opened the scoring on the 12th minute and Daniel Agius made it 2-0 on the 64th. Qormi scored a consolation goal two minutes in added time thanks to Lawrence Chiedozie.

Qormi will now face the team ending second from bottom in the BOV Premier League in a play-off for a place among the elite next season.

Lija ended their commitments on the 54-point mark, followed by Senglea on 53, Naxxar 51, Qormi 46, Mqabba 44, Pietà 41, Vittoriosa 40, Sirens 34, Melita 31, Zebbug 30, Rabat 27, Marsa 25, Gharghur 18 and Fgura 16.
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