Maroons back to winning ways

Gzira United extended their unbeaten record in the BOV Premier League as they returned to winning ways, beating St. Andrews 2-1 at the National Stadium on Friday.

Gzira regain the top spot, one point ahead of Hibernians, but the Paolites have a game in hand. St. Andrew, on the other hand, remain ninth on fourteen points.

St. Andrews had three changes from the team which drew with Floriana as Ricardo Martin, Kevyn Mcfarlane and Amoy Brown were ruled out through suspension while Joseph Farrugia was only included as a substitute. Marcus Grima, Jacob Walker, Matthew Woo Ling and Nicholas Mclaren were named in the starting line-up.

The Maroons, on the other hand, lacked the suspended Roderick Briffa and Sacha Borg apart from the injured Amadou Samb. Juan Carlos Corbalan, Thomas Veronese and Haruna Garba were all back in the starting line-up.

Gzira took the lead on the 12th minute when off a good run by Nikolai Muscat on the right, he served Haruna Garba whose shot was deflected by a defender past Calleja Cremona.

Three minutes from the end of the first half, a freekick from the right by Matthew Woo Ling hit the upright with the ball being cleared into safety by a defender.

The Maroons doubled the score on the 69th minute thanks to Andrew Cohen who placed the ball at the back of the net after a cross from the right was only deflected slightly by Calleja Cremona.

St. Andrews pulled one back on the 74th with an angled shot by Matthew Woo Ling following a good move by Martin Davis.

GZIRA Justin Haber, Nikolai Muscat, Zachary Scerri, Rodolfo Soares, Andrew Cohen (91’ Luca Brincat), Juan Carlos Corbalan, Edison Bilbao Zarate, Jorge da Silva Pereira (78’ Clifford Gatt Baldacchino), Fernando Barbosa Pereira, Thomas Veronese, Haruna Garba.
Subs not used: Anthony Curmi, Moad Lamlum, Christian Sammut, Jaron Schembri, Luke Grech.
Coach: Darren Abdilla

ST. ANDREWS Matthew Calleja Cremona, Alex Satariano, Travis Blagrove, Marcus Grima (66’ Joseph Farrugia), Kevaughn Atkinson, Kemar Reid, Adrian Borg, Jacob Walker (83’ Aidan Friggieri), Martin Davis, Nicholas Mclaren (46’ Kurt Magro), Matthew Woo Ling.
Subs not used: Sebastian Spiteri, Karl Pulo, Dejan Debono, Kemmu Degran Jackson.
Coach: Johann Scicluna

Referee: Malcolm Spiteri
Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Theodore Zammit
Fourth Official: Daniel Portelli
Yellow Cards: Soares, Mclaren, Corbalan, Walker
BOV Player of the Match: Haruna Garba
Attendance: 160