April 1997

Wed 30

• The Maltese National team hit rock bottom with a 2-1 defeat on home soil against Faroe Islands. What seemed to be the D-Day for Malta resulted into another defeat, this time against a country which is much smaller than Malta. The Faroe Islands, although quite well prepared physically were very poor technically. But one has to mention that they had three regular players missing. However although the Maltese dominated for most of the time, taking an early lead, they missed several chances which could have given Malta a two- or three-goal lead. The Faroes created very few chances throughout the 90 minutes and in fact in their first serious attempt mid-way through the second half, they equalised after they were awarded a penalty. Then in the last five minutes, first they were unlucky to hit the post until they notched the winning goal in the 89th.
  After that Stefan Sultana missed a good chance in the 5th following a through-pass by Gilbert Agius, Malta opened the score 2 minutes later when Jeffrey Chetcuti advanced on the laft, passed towards Agius in the penalty area, who turned to pass towards Stefan Sultana who had no difficulty in hitting home. Malta could have increased the score during the first half but a Gilbert Agius header and a Nicky Saliba shot were saved by the Faroes' keeper, Knudsen while defender Johanssen risked an own goal sending the ball just over the bar. Then Stefan Sultana had a good chance from an ideal position but his shot went across goal. In the second half, after 15 minutes, the Faroes equalised when Lawrence Attard floored Todi Jonsson. From the penalty spot, Ossur Hansen made it 1-1. The Maltese could have restored the lead twice in the next 10 minutes but in both occasions, Ivan Zammit failed to hit home. One minute from time, the Faroes went very close to scoring their second goal the crossbar denied their attempt. But some seconds later, the Faroes' best player Todi Jonsson, advanced from midfield towards the edge of the penalty area beating Malta goalie Mario Muscat with a good shot. In the 92nd, Antoine Zahra was sent off for a second yellow card, just after that Joe Brincat was unlucky to hit the bar which meant glory for the Faroe Islands and hell for Malta.

Sun 27

• Division 1 Ghaxaq vs St. Patrick 0-4, Dingli S. vs Tarxien R. 1-3 Tarxien Rainbows promoted to the Premier Division. Next week's matches Xghajra T. vs St. Patrick & Sta. Lucia vs Marsa would be some sort of deciders. The first will decide promotion to the Premier Division, the second will probably indicate the team who will join Ghaxaq in Division 2
• Division 2 Gudja U. vs Qrendi 3-0, Qormi vs San Gwann 6-0
• Division 3 Senglea A. vs Mgarr U. 3-1, St. Andrews vs Luqa SA 1-0 St. Andrews Promoted to Division 2
• Gozo - Premier Nadur Y. vs Xaghra U. 3-0, Sannat L. vs Ghajnsielem 2-3
• Women's Knock Out - Quarter Finals Rabat Ajax vs Ta' Xbiex 13-0, Hamrun S. vs Lija A. 0-5

Sat 26

• Division 1 Zurrieq vs Mosta 3-1, Xghajra T. vs Sta. Lucia 2-1
• Division 3 Melita vs Sta. Venera L. 2-2, Kalkara U. vs Zejtun C. 3-7
• Gozo - Division 1 Knock Out Final Xewkija T. vs Gharb R. 2-1

Fri 25

• In choosing a 20-man squad for Wednesday's match Malta vs Faroe Islands, Maltese national coach Milorad Kosanovic included also Silvio Vella who is still injured.

Thu 24

• Four Premier League players are refusing to extend their contract with the respective clubs. These players are Sliema's second goalkeeper Roderick Agius and Hibernians' veterans Charlie Scerri, Edwin Camilleri and Michael Woods.
• Floriana coach Ron Fenton, whose contract expires at the end of the season could be replaced by the former Maltese national coach Pippo Psaila.
• In a press conference, Valletta FC launched a week-long Championship celebrations. The match against Rabat Ajax on the 4th May was anticipated to 1500hrs instead of 1700hrs.
• According to a local newspaper, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a keen soccer fan and a close friend with B'Kara goalkeeper Musbah Shangab will probably buy some shares in the B'Kara Football Club.

Wed 23

• The MFA Disciplinary Commissioner suspended the following 6 Premier League players for the last league match: Claude Mangion (Hibs), Clive Mizzi (Pieta`), Giles Lanzon (Lija A.), Charles Borg and Michael Micallef (Rabat A.) and Simon Sammut (B'Kara).

Sun 20

• Premier League Floriana vs Lija A. 5-1, Rabat A. vs B'Kara 1-4
• Division 1 Dingli S. vs Mellieha 1-2, Tarxien R. vs Marsa 0-1
• Division 2 St. George's vs Gzira U. 1-0, Mqabba vs Gozo FC 3-1
• Division 3 Gharghur vs Sirens 1-2, Birzebbuga SP vs Fgura U. 0-2
• Women's Knock Out Preliminary Round Hamrun S. vs Qormi 0-0 (4-3 after penalties) Quarter Finals Gozo vs PlanETS 6-0, Melita vs Hibernians 1-0

Sat 19

• Premier League Sliema W. vs Hamrun S. 3-1, Valletta vs Pieta` H. 3-1
• Division 1 St. Patrick vs Zurrieq 0-1, Sta. Lucia vs Ghaxaq 1-1
• Division 2 Pembroke A. vs Vittoriosa S. 2-0, Balzan Y. vs Siggiewi 0-1

Fri 18

• The MFA Disciplinary Commissioner suspended 6 Premier League players: John Buttigieg (Floriana), Alexander Ivanov (Pieta`), Dennis Cauchi (B'Kara), Mario Farrugia and Emmanuel Micallef (both Lija) and Herbert Vassallo (Rabat).

Wed 16

• Premier League Rabat Ajax vs Lija A., Hibernians vs Naxxar L. 2-1

Tue 15

• Premier League Floriana vs Sliema W. 1-3, Pieta` H. vs B'Kara 0-0
• Rupert Mangion (Hamrun S.) won the Player of the Month Award for March.

Mon 14

• B>UEFA Intertoto Cup The Maltese club which will play in the Intertoto Cup was drawn to play in Group 12 together with clubs from Russia, Austria, Greece and Georgia.
• The MFA Disciplinary Commissioner suspended 3 Premier League players: Kevin Muscat (Rabat Ajax), Lawrence Attard (Hibs) and Sinisa Radak (Naxxar L.). He also fined former Valletta and B'Kara player Jesmond Zerafa Lm50 because he was found "guilty" of coaching the Valletta youths team while he is still under contract with B'Kara, even if he left the club late in 1994.

Sun 13

• Premier League Hamrun S. vs Hibernians 3-0, Valletta vs Naxxar L. 3-0
• Division 1 Dingli S. vs Mosta 3-4, Marsa vs Xghajra T. 0-3
• Division 2 M'Xlokk vs Qormi 3-8, Zebbug R. vs Gudja U. 6-0
• Division 3 Msida SJ vs Kirkop U. 0-2, Ta' Xbiex vs Attard 0-10 -- Ta' Xbiex suffered the 13th consecutive defeat.
• Gozo - Premier Ghajnsielem vs Xaghra U. 2-1, Victoria H. vs Nadur Y. 4-3
• Women's Knock Out - Preliminary Round Rabat Ajax vs B'Kara 3-0, Lija A. vs Mosta 1-0, Melita vs St. Patrick 10-0

Sat 12

• Premier League Pieta` H. vs Lija A. 5-2, Sliema W. vs Rabat Ajax 3-0
• Division 1 Sta. Lucia vs Zurrieq 3-0, Tarxien R. vs Mellieha 3-0
• Division 3 St. Andrews vs Zejtun C. 2-1, Sta. Venera L. vs Senglea A. 2-2 -- St Venera Promoted
• Gozo - Division 1 Munxar F. vs Gharb R. 1-3, Xewkija T. vs Qala SJ 3-1
• Youths Floriana win Section A and Mosta win Section B after beating Hamrun 4-0 and St. Patrick 3-0 respectively.

Thu 10

• The protest made by B'Kara regarding the technical error in the B'Kara-Hibs match was rejected on the basis that it was not lodged within the stipulated time.
• In a friendly played at Hamrun, Swedish Third Division side Overgrans IF beat Hamrun Spartans 2-1. Ramon Mallia scored for Hamrun.

Wed 9

• Women's Knock Out - Draws Preliminary Round Lija A. vs Mosta, Qormi vs Hamrun, Rabat Ajax vs B'Kara, St. Patrick vs Melita Quarter-Finals Gozo FC vs PlanETS, Hibernians vs St.Patrick/Melita, Rabat/B'Kara vs Ta' Xbiex, Qormi/Hamrun vs Lija/Mosta.
• Gozo - Premier Victoria H. vs Sannat L. 3-1
• The MFA Disciplinary Commissioner suspended 4 Premier League players: Louis Azzopardi (Pieta`), Stefan Giglio (Valletta), Joe Brincat (Floriana) and David Camilleri (Hamrun), for one league match each.

Tue 8

• Ladies - Championship Pool Gozo vs Melita 2-1, Lija A. vs Mosta 3-0, Rabat Ajax vs B'Kara 4-0 -- Lija Athletic Champions

Mon 7

• Premier League B'Kara vs Naxxar L. 4-2, Hamrun S. vs Floriana 4-1

Sun 6

• Premier League Pieta` H. vs Sliema W. 1-1, Valletta vs Hibernians 4-0
• Division 1 Dingli S. vs St. Patrick 1-1, Ghaxaq vs Marsa 1-1
• Division 2 Gzira U. vs Qrendi 3-1, Gozo FC vs San Gwann 2-1
• Division 3 Luqa SA vs B' Bugia SP 1-2, Mgarr U. vs Gharghur 6-0
• Gozo - Premier Ghajnsielem vs Nadur Y. 2-2
• Ladies - Championship Pool Rabat Ajax vs Gozo 0-1

Sat 5

• B'Kara FC filed a protest against the result of the match against Hibernians (1-1), claiming that a technical error was committed when David Carabott was sent off. This was because play proceeded witha freekick instead of a throw-in.
• Division 1 Mellieha vs Mosta 1-3, Tarxien R. vs Xghajra T. 1-1
• Division 2 Siggiewi vs Mqabba 4-0, St. George's vs Vittoriosa S. 3-0 Siggiewi are promoted to Division I.
• Gozo - Division 2 Oratory Y. vs Marsalforn SP 2-2, St. Lawrence S. vs Zebbug R. 0-4

Fri 4

• Valletta defender Darren Debono was the first player to be tested positive in a doping test in the Maltese Islands. He was tested positive after the Valletta vs B'Kara encounter. According to Valletta coach, Edward Aquilina, Debono was suffering from a nose blockage before the match and had taken a 'Clarinase' tablet. However, according to Aquilina, this definitely was not a stimulant. But one has to mention the fact that Clarinase contains the substance 'ephedrine' which is include in section B of the list of doping substances.
• Premier League Rabat Ajax vs Floriana 2-4, Naxxar L. vs Lija A. 1-0
• David Carabott (Hibernians), Andy Eminyan (B'Kara) and Michael Zammit (Hamrun) were suspended for one league match by the MFA Disciplinary Commissioner.

Thu 3

• Premier League Valletta vs Hamrun S. 2-1, B'Kara vs Hibernians 1-1

Wed 2

• Maltese-Australian player Kevin Muscat scored the third goal for Australia in a 3-1 victory over Hungary in a testimonial match for the great Hungarian player Ferenc Puskas.

Tue 1

• Gozo - Premier League Ghajnsielem vs Victoria H. 3-1
• Ladies - Championship Pool Lija A. vs B'Kara 3-0 Promotion Pool Hamrun S. vs St. Patrick 4-0