Senglea Athletic continued their climb up the BOV Amateur League I standings with a commanding 3-0 victory over San Ġwann, while Luqa St Andrew’s boosted their survival hopes with an important 3-1 win against Qrendi.

Senglea Athletic 3–0 San Ġwann

Fresh from their impressive win over Pembroke, Senglea Athletic were keen to maintain momentum against a San Ġwann side still harbouring promotion ambitions after their recent victory over Luqa St Andrew’s.

The first half offered little in terms of excitement, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances. The deadlock was finally threatened after the hour mark when Nigel Scerri fired narrowly wide for Senglea, followed moments later by a glaring miss from Johan Alberto Castano, who somehow failed to convert from just two yards out.

Senglea’s pressure eventually paid off when a cross from the left found veteran Steve Meilak, who reacted quickest to stab the ball home and give his side a deserved lead.

San Ġwann attempted a response through Denilson Abela, whose effort was blocked by the Senglea defence, but the Saints looked blunt in attack. Senglea remained organised and dangerous on the counter, with James Oghenekwaro unlucky to see his powerful strike hit the outside of the post late on.

Deep into stoppage time, Senglea sealed the points in emphatic fashion as substitute Jack Zammit and Matthew Brincat both found the net with fine strikes to complete a convincing victory.

Luqa St Andrew’s 3–1 Qrendi

In the other fixture, Luqa St Andrew’s and Qrendi entered the match desperate for points after recent defeats, with Qrendi still searching for their first points of the campaign.

Qrendi started brightly and went close early on through a Samuel Saldanha header that drifted wide, while Brandon Bray tested goalkeeper Andre Fenech on two occasions inside the opening 20 minutes.

Their early dominance was rewarded on 28 minutes when Dylan Micallef finished clinically from close range to give Qrendi the lead. The visitors could have doubled their advantage shortly afterwards, with Saldanha, Bray and Micallef all denied before the break.

Qrendi continued to press after half-time, with Micallef again going close, but it was Luqa who struck back on 61 minutes when Bledi Alla unleashed a stunning effort that flew into the roof of the net.

The match swung decisively three minutes later when Qrendi’s Mikele Vella was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. From the resulting free-kick, Nathan Frendo curled the ball into the net to put Luqa ahead.

Luqa capitalised immediately, with Alla grabbing his second goal just a minute later on the counter-attack as Qrendi struggled to cope with being a man down. From then on, Luqa controlled proceedings comfortably and saw out a crucial win in their battle to avoid relegation.