Gammari Muscat Mosta Tournament kicks-off

The 2011 ‘Gammari’ Muscat’ Mosta Tournament kicked off on Monday night with two matches that saw hosts Mosta spring a surprise and beat Birkirkara 2-1.

Vittoriosa Stars proved a hard nut to crack but Tarxien proved too strong for Joe Brincat’s side dominating the second half and scoring three goals in the process. Ricardo Costa opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, and further goals by Daniel Bueno (70 min) and Justin Grioli (78 min) sealed an emphatic 3-0 win.

The second match proved to be more exciting as hosts Mosta came from behind to secure a 2-1 win against all odds. In front of a very big crowd at the Charles Abela Memorial Stadium, Birkirkara just shaded the first half but could not find a way past Blues goalie Jonathan Debono.

When Leighton Grech put the Stripes 1-0 up just four minutes into the second half, it seemed that Mosta were in for a hard time. But The Blues had other ideas and continued to improve. They came strong late in the match and it was no surprise when on 78 minutes substitute Jonathan Bajada jinked his way past two defenders and unleashed a pile-driver that took a deflection before beating Birkirkara keeper Jorge Mora to level the scores.

Mosta were now the better side and after an Alhinho rocket smashed against the crossbar, another substitute, Nikola Arseric who was making his first appearance for the Blues, beat the Stripes offside strap, rounded Mora and shot into an empty net for the winner.

www.mostafootballclub.com