Futsal: Kaca stars in Lija fightback

Albanian international Endrit Kaca scored a brace on his debut as Lija Athletic fought back from a two-goal deficit to beat Valletta 3-2 as another round of matches was played from the Gatorade Futsal League. The win kept Kevin Mifsud’s boys as firm favourites to clinch a place in the top six and helped to narrow the gap on the Citizens by only one point.

Cristian Cuadros Silva had given a 1-0 lead at the break as Jovica Milijic added another one on 26 minutes. Gary Inguanez reduced the scoreline for Lija as a Kaca’s double turned the tables for Lija when he smacked home the winner 1:10 minutes from the death.

A top-notch Luxol side maintained their positive streak in this campaign as they hammered Msida St. Joseph 11-1. Their excellent performance was sealed from a Florin Anton’s hat-trick, three doubles by Glenn Bonello, Celino Alves and Mark Zammit while William Barbosa and Karl Azzopardi added more goals for the St Andrew’s outfit. Clayton Farrugia scored Msida’s consolation goal.

Hamrun Spartans took advantage of Valletta’s upset as they surged second in the table with league top scorer Raphael Ortiz de Oliveira smashing a hat-trick in their 13-7 thrashing of Mqabba. It was no easy win for the Spartans as Kevin Loughborough’s boys gave their all despite having a number of players missing for this game. Nippy striker George Frendo also struck a hat-trick, Rodrigo, Daniel Mifsud and Jason Mifsud netted a brace while Michel Melo Jose added another one for the Spartans.

Mqabba replied back through a hat-trick by Etienne Rodo, a brace by Fabio Grech and Borja Lopez Fernandez.

Swieqi United registered their sixth victory of the season as they gave little chance to Mdina Knights, winning 12-1. Kenneth Fiteni, who was making his debut as Swieqi coach, saw his team mastering the game with hat-tricks from Boicho Marev Gabor Balan and Christian Wismayer, together with three more goals scored by Omar Toutoungi, Timothy Gingell and Christian Hurtado Sanchez. Mdina’s only goal was scored by Ryan Micallef.

Zebbug Rangers registered their third success of the season after seeing off Gozo FC 5-2 while Qrendi notched their first three points of the season with a comfortable 12-3 victory over Marsaskala.

STANDINGS: Luxol 24, Hamrun 22, Valletta 19, Lija, Swieqi 18, Msida 16, Sirens 10, Sliema, Zebbug 9, Mqabba, Mdina, Marsascala 6, Qrendi 3, Gozo 0