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30 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 SEPTEMBER 2018 SPORTS FOOTBALL Hamrun Spartans vs St Andrews The Spartans have made a good start to the season. They kicked off with a win over Floriana during the first match. A week later, they held Gzira United in a goalless draw – a match they could have won with a little bit of luck. On the other hand, St Andrews started with a solid win over Mosta. However, they suffered a heavy defeat against Tarxien during their next encounter. Giovanni Tedesco's side will start the match as favour- ites to collect the three points and keep the pace with the top teams in order to achieve their targets for this season. Despite this, St Andrews proved more than once that they can rise to the occasion and thus Ħamrun should be on the alert to avoid a surprising result. This match will be played at the National Sadium, kick- off at 18:00. Birkirkara vs Valletta This match can be considered as the match of the week since the two sides will definitely battle hard for the three points. Encouraged by the return of Jonathan Caruana, Valletta will be eager to secure their first points. The citizens suf- fered defeats against Sliema Wanderers and Hibernians and are still without a point. Following the international break, they will be hoping to recover and start climbing up the table. This cannot be said for Birkirkara as they are on maxi- mum points. The stripes won against Balzan and Pieta' Hotspurs. However, they are conscious that they will need to come up with a great performance in order to overcome the holders of the competition. This match will be played at the National Stadium, kick- off at 20:00. Mosta vs Tarxien Rainbows Another close encounter is that of Mosta and Tarxien Rainbows. Both teams were defeated in their opening game, but they improved a lot during their second match and registered wins. Tarxien found it hard against Gzira and fell to a 4-1 de- feat. The following week they showed signs of improve- ment and registered a solid win against St Andrews. Mosta also didn't have a good performance in their open- ing match as they were defeated by St Andrews. However, like Tarxien, they improved a lot in their second game and won against Senglea. In fact, it is difficult to state which team holds the upper hand as both sides have what it takes to secure a victory in order to move away from the drop zone as early as possible. This match will be played at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, kick-off at 18:00. Sliema Wanderers vs Gzira United Another close match will be that between Sliema and Gzira. The Wanderers are showing serious improvement from previous seasons. In fact, they managed to beat both Valletta and Floriana in their first two games. On the other hand, Gzira are seeking to build on the ex- cellent season they had in the previous campaign. In fact, they kept the core of last year's players and also signed new ones to strengthen their squad. The Maroons won without much difficulty against Tarx- ien Rainbows. However, they struggled against Ħamrun and could have lost the match. Picking a favourite is also difficult for this match as the two teams will only be happy with the three points. Fur- thermore, if they play at their best, both sides can win the match and gain some momentum which might make the difference at the end of the season. This match will be played at the Victor Tedesco Stadium, kick-off at 20:15. Today's matches THE BOV Premier League will continue today with two matches at the National Stadium and another two games at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. BOV PREMIER LEAGUE Warren Zammit QORMI and Pieta` faced off yesterday in the first match at the Victor Tedesco Stadium. Both teams came into this match looking to win in order to boost their chances of secur- ing their Premier League status as early as possible. Qormi were coming from a narrow 1-0 win over Senglea and a 4-2 defeat against Balzan. On the other hand, Pieta` lost 2-1 in their opening two matches against Hibernians and Birkirkara and thus they were looking to win their first points against another newly promoted side. During the early stages of the match, both Pieta` and Qormi shared possession inside the centre of the pitch with neither side threatening the opposing defence. In fact, the first chance on goal was created on the 22nd minute. Yankam Yannick of Pieta` hit a low shot that was neutralised by Jamie Azzopardi without much difficulty. Qormi hit back and broke the deadlock on the half hour mark. Iven Zammit delivered a cross from the left towards the unmarked Manolito Micallef who placed the ball past Nicho- las George Vella from close range. Brian Spiteri's side nearly added another two minutes later. Following a long ball for- ward, Vella failed to hold on to the ball. Yannick Yankam took the rebound, but saw his effort from inside the penalty area stamping off the post. Qormi paid harshly for los- ing this opportunity as Pieta` equalised on the 39th minute. From a free-kick, Neil Pace Cocks delivered the ball to- wards Antonio Orlando Mac- edo Neto who headed the ball inside the net. Pieta` had another chance on goal a minute later as Gabriel Mensah was played through on goal, but lost his composure and Jamie Azzopardi collected the ball. Ramon Zammit's team re- mained on the offensive till the half-time whistle. Despite this, they were unable to break Qor- mi's defence once more as the first half finished 1-1. Qormi made a good start to the second half and regained the lead on the 53rd minute. Tensior Gusman found space on the edge of the penalty ar- ea and placed the ball behind Vella. The First Division champions lost a golden opportunity to score again on the 62nd min- ute. Christian Grech brought down Mario Andres Arrieta inside the penalty area and the referee pointed towards the spot. Arrieta took charge of the spot-kick himself, but was de- nied by Vella. Knowing that they were still in the game, Pieta` gave it all they could in order to equalise. They went close on the 80th minute. Paul Chimezie went inside the penalty area down the left flank and hit a shot that was blocked by Azzopardi. Their efforts paid off one min- ute from time. Qormi's defence failed to clear their marks as Gabriel Mesah made the most out of the lack of communica- tion between the opposing de- fence. The twenty-two year old forward ran inside the penalty and concluded inside the net. Following this goal, there wasn't enough time for Qormi to hit back as the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Qormi starting line-up: Jamie Azzopardi, Mario Andres Arrieta, Davide Mansi, Yannick Yankam, Seo In Kim, Manolito Micallef, Joseph Gaetano Ge- sualdi, Lubos Adamec, Kas- siano Mendonca Soares, Iven Zammit, Tensior Gusman Pieta Hotspurs starting line- up: Nicholas George Vella, Takaki Ose, Christian Joseph Degabriele, Neil Pace Cocks, Dylan Agius, Paul Chimezie, Jan Busuttil, Gabriel Mensah, Christian Grech, Irimiya Ishaya Jalo, Antonio Orlando Macedo Neto Referee: Jude Admin Utulu Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Roberto Vella Fourth Official: Shaun Calleja BOV Player of the Match: Iven Zammit (Qormi) Qormi Pieta' Hotspurs 2 2 In a match between the two newly promoted sides, Pieta` had to come twice from behind to secure a 2-2 draw against Qormi Gabriel Mensah's late goal earns Pieta' their first point PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOMINIC BORG