St. Andrews, Pietà share spoils in entertaining draw

St. Andrews and Pietà Hotspurs earned a point each in an entertaining 3-3 draw at the Hibernians Stadium on Saturday.

A draw which leaves the Saints three points ahead of the Hotspurs.

The Saints took the lead on the 9th minute when off a Joseph Farrugia free kick, Martin Davis tried his luck with a cross shot which was deflected by Antonio Orlando Macedo Neto past Vella for an own goal.

St. Andrews doubled the score four minutes later when off a good run, Amoy Brown served Joseph Farrugia whose effort was partially saved by the Hotspurs goalkeeper and off the rebound, he served Kemar Reid who placed the ball at the back of the net.

Pietà reduced the gap on the 19th minute thanks to a penalty by Dylan Agius after Kurt Magro handled the ball inside the area.

The Saints could have restored a two-goal lead on the 31st minute when they were awarded a penalty after a defender handled the ball inside the area. However Kemar Reid’s effort was turned by Nicky Vella into a corner.

However St. Andrews made it 3-1 seven minutes in the second half thanks to Martin Davis when served by Kemar Reid.

Gabriel Mensah scored a second goal for the Hotspurs on the hour thanks to a powerful shot from outside the area. 

Five minutes later, Pietà completed their comeback thanks to Dylan Agius who converted another penalty after Ishaya Irimiya Jalo was brought down inside the area.

ST. ANDREWS Matthew Calleja Cremona, Alex Satariano, Ricardo Martin, Aidan Jake Friggieri (73′ Kemmu Degran Jackson), Kemar Reid (86′ Jacob Walker), Joseph Farrugia (64′ Matthew Woo Ling), Kurt Magro, Adrian Borg, Amoy Brown, Martin Davis, Travis Blagrove.
Subs not used: Sebastian Spiteri, Adam Magri Overend, Karl Pulo, Dejan Debono.
Coach: Johann Scicluna

PIETÀ Nicky Vella, Ose Takaki, Christian Degabriele, Neil Pace Cocks, Dylan Agius, Jan Busuttil (89′ Nicholas Pisani) Gabriel Mensah, Christian Grech, Shunsuke Nakamura (83′ James Scicluna), Ishaya Irimiya Jalo (79′ Juan Manuel Artiaga Roa), Antonio Orlando de Macedo Neto.
Subs not used: Jacob Chircop St John, Svein Bartolo, Harry Singh, Ayrton Mizzi. 
Coach: Ramon Zammit
Asst. Coach: Mark Vella

Referee: Alan Mario Sant
Assistant Referees: Alan Camilleri, Dusan Petrovic
Fourth Official: Alex Johnson
Yellow Cards: Tony, Brown, Calleja Cremona, Blagrove, Woo Ling