Mellieha continued their positive trail by scoring another eight goals, this time against B’Bugia. The first half was quite a balanced one, with Mellieha breaking the deadlock after only a minute through Craig Pickard. Four minutes later Peter Mark Cachia leveled the matters for B’Bugia. On the 12th minute Mellieha regained their advantage through Joseph Vella. A minute later Eric Saliba equalised again the score for B’Bugia.

In the second half, Mellieha were more dominant and scored four more goals scored by Craig Pickard once again, a brace by Nikolay Filipov, Darren Aitchinson and Josef Balzan. B’Bugia entered again in the match by scoring two more goals by Clive Formosa and Ronnie Celeste. Joseph Vella’s second personal goal closed the matters, with the end result 8-4 for Mellieha.

Sirens notched their first win in an interesting and hot encounter against Msida.  The referees had to show seven yellow and three red cards. For Sirens Jonathan Debono was sent off after receiving two yellow cards, like Msida’s Marian Gologan in the last minute of the game. Msida’s Herbert Spiteri was given a straight red for attempting to punch an opponent.

Sirens dramatic victory was marked with George Chircop’s and James Tabone’s brace and a goal each for Lawrence Vella and Jeffrey Fenech.

Msida also found  the net through Marian Gologan’s brace and a goal from Chris Cutajar and Andy Blundell.

Mdina Knights got stuck in, even though they were beaten by Siggiewi who had their first win of the season.  Siggiewi had a three goal advantage with the goals scored by Philip Caruana Turner, Matthew Debono and James Borg.  Mdina Knights equalised through Roberto Sarcia and a brace from Cleaven Portelli. Siggiewi finalised the score with two more goals scored by Matthew Debono and James Borg.

A dominant Luqa had another positive result, beating Mqabba 3-1.  Isaac Delmar, Andrew Scerri and Keith Mifsud scored for Luqa, while Mqabba’s only goal was scored by Justin Psaila.

Tonight Qrendi will be playing against Naxxar and Sirens against Attard.

Aleksandr Ribic, the mastermind, orchestrated Lija’s second win of the season in the First Division after scoring six goals as he helped his team defeat Siggiewi 9-1.

It was an outstanding performance by the Serbian player who created havoc to the Siggiewi rearguard.

Ribic formed an outstanding tandem with Zeljko Anicic who scored a brace during this match.

Former Fgura player, Jason Gauci added another one for Lija.

Siggiewi reduced the arrears through James Borg.

This victory put Lija joint first with Mellieha who also won the first two matches of the season.

Msida returned to winning ways as they beat B’Buga 6-3 to bag the first three points of the season.

Alan Micallef put Msida ahead but John Paul Barbara equalized for B’Buga. Then Msida scored three quick goals through Marian Golugan and a brace by Noel Portelli to install a 4-1 advantage.

B’Buga quickly reacted and hit the target twice through Peter Mark Cachia and Noel Tabone.

It looked as if the Southsiders were getting back into the match but Msida had other ideas as Marian Golugan and Matthew Dingli scored another two goals to give their team the final victory.

Despite going a goal down, Naxxar Lions turned round the result and ended the first half with an advantage of 4-2.

Siggiewi found the net twice through Simon Gingell Littlejohn and Matthew Debono.

After that there was no looking back for the Lions.

Naxxar obtained their first three points with Khail Drago’s brace, an own goal by Steve Gingell Littlejohn, Daniel Brincat, Ryan Mifsud, Christopher Wismayer and Andrew Catania.

In an evenly contested match, Sirens and Qrendi shared the spoils in an entertaining 4-4 scoreline. Sirens broke the deadlock after one minute and always managed to gain the advantage with Qrendi always balancing the affairs.
In the second half, Qrendi’s captain, Antonello Brincat inspired his team with two quick goals to put them in front but Sirens managed to find the equalizer that helped them grab the first point of the competition.
James Tabone scored a brace, Etienne Bonnici and a penalty by James Tabone were the goal-getters for Sirens.
Qrendi replied back with a brace by Antonello Brincat and Maxime Landais.

After last week’s debut of Mdina Knights with Mqabba, which ended 3-3, Luqa proved to be the better side by winning 3-1.

Luqa opened the score through their captain Isaac Delmar and this was the only goal in the first half.

In the second half, Edward Falzon made it 2-0 with a screamer and 10 minutes later Mdina responded and made it 2-1 through their captain John Micallef. Few minutes later Keith Mifsud made the final score 3-1 in Luqa’s favour.

The sixteen goals in Mellieha’s first two matches, placed them solely on top of the first division’s standings.

Against Mqabba, it was again Nikolay Filipov’s Show with five goals, being the division’s top scorer with eight goals.

Radoslav Kovachev put his name twice on Mellieha’s scorers together with a goal by Craig Pickard.

Mqabba’s only goal came through Thomas Consoli.

Futsal’s First Division will resume tomorrow with B’bugia playing against Msida, while Siggiewi will play again this week against Lija.

Nikolay Filipov was Mellieha’s inspirational player as he scored a hat-trick to help his side overcome Msida 8-2 after the first round of matches from the Futsal First Division was played at the Corradino Pavillion.

It was a dream start for Mellieha who were making their official debut in the local futsal scene. Moreover other newcomers Attard, Lija and Mdina finished unbeaten in their first league commitments.

Bulgarian duo Radoslav Kovachev and Nikolay Filipov were a continuous menace to the Msida defence as Mellieha produced a remarkable second half to bag the first three points at stake.

The first half was a balanced encounter as Mellieha always took the lead but Msida found time to pull two goals back to pile some sort of pressure to their opponents.

But in the second half, Mellieha completely dominated the proceedings and scored five goals to rubberstamp their first official victory of the season.

Nikolay Filipov scored a hat-trick, Joseph Vella netted a brace while Radoslav Kovachev, Josef Balzan and Ian Cilia added more goals for Mellieha.

Alan Micallef and Gary Zerafa pulled two goals back for Msida.

Mdina and Mqabba shared the spoils 3-3 in an entertaining match.

For Mdina this was their first match in the local futsal scene.  Mqabba gained a double advantage in the first half but Mdina pulled one back before half time.

In the second half Mdina reacted quite well and managed to score the draw a few seconds before the end.

Etienne Rodo, Thomas Consoli and Wayne Mizzi put their names on the score sheet for Mqabba.

Cleaven Portelli, Matthew Gatt and Dalziel Bugeja scored Mdina’s first official goals in the futsal First Division to level matters for their team and gain the first point of the season.

Lija surged ahead through Jeremy Cutajar and Zeljko Anicic doubled the score four minutes later. Andrew Scerri pulled one back for Luqa while Isaac Delmar with a spectacular shot restored parity 2-2.

Aleksandar Ribic regained his team’s advantage but Luqa reacted fiercely and levelled matters from Alan Chetcuti.

Veteran Jean Bert Gatt scored Lija’s fourth goal before half-time to make it 4-3.

In the second half, Luqa tried to offer a good reaction but found Lija’s keeper Stefan Vella in fine form.

Zeljko Anicic added another goal to score a brace and make the final score 5-3 for Lija.

Attard and Birzebbugia shared a lively 2-2 draw in an evenly balanced match. The former, who were marking their first appearance in the First Division, scored their goals through Aaron Camillieri and Duncan Bonello.

Today is the official start-up of 2014/15 futsal season, with Mdina and Mqabba from the First Division League.

This website contacted Cleaven Portelli Mdina Knights’ Vice Captain, where he feels really excited about today’s game against Mqabba, like all his team mates.

Today the hard work between the student’s associations and Mdina Knights representatives will bear fruit and fulfil the 9 months of expectations.

Portelli on behalf of the team said that they will play with a winning mentality and respect to their opponents.

This summer they had the opportunity of playing some friendlies together with regular training sessions with Coach Kyle Sultana.

From the other side, Mqabba’s Coach Kenneth Fiteni said that Mqabba will continue where they left in the last season.

During the summer new players joined the club and they well integrated with the remaining ones.

They worked hard to prepare themselves in giving a good game against each team in the First Division.

Tonight’s initial match will be an important match to gauge their level of progress and what needs to be done for the future.

Futsal fever starts gripping tight this week when the 2014/2015 First Division kicks off with the opening round of matches between today and tomorrow.

Siggiewi, Attard, Naxxar, Msida, Mdina, Sirens, B’Bugia, Mellieha, Lija, Qrendi, Mqabba and Luqa will embark on a new First Division campaign determined to get the points on board as quickly as possible to guarantee a positive season for themselves.

Attard, Mellieha, Lija and Mdina are making their official debut this season  while Marsascala, Kalkara, Fgura and Sta Lucia dropped from the futsal scene after participating in last year’s First Division.

Last year Valletta were crowned as promoted First Division champions after a good run of positive matches while Gzira United and Zebbug Rangers joined  them in the two remaining promotion spots.

There will be top teams that will challenge for their main objective to be promoted to the Premier Division. All teams have strengthened their squads with good acquisitions some of them even having a top division experience. This will guarantee a positive season for  the First Division campaign as well as more entertaining matches.

This week’s programme:

Corradino Pavillion:

Monday 15th September 2014

19.45 hrs – Mqabba vs Mdina

21.15 hrs – Msida vs Mellieha

Tuesday 16th September 2014

19.45 hrs – Lija vs Luqa

21.15 hrs – Attard vs B’Bugia