Lija, Naxxar and Senglea complete promotion mission

Lija Athletic, Naxxar Lions and Senglea Athletic have secured the three automatic promotion slots in the BOV Division One championship but the title race will be decided on the final day. Only one point separates the promoted trio with Lija and Naxxar on 51 points and Senglea, who face the Lions at the Tedesco Stadium on Sunday, a point behind. Lija take on fifth-placed Mqabba on Sunday. A 4-2 victory over Marsa on Friday ensured that Lija Athletic will play in the top flight next season. The team led by coach Joe Galea surged into 4-0 lead with goals from Abubakar Bello Osagie, Erjon Beu, Predrag Babic and Lee Joe Schembri. Luis De Melo scored a late brace for Marsa. Naxxar Lions are also making a return to the BOV Premier League after sealing promotion with a 2-1 victory over Sirens on Saturday. Yuri De Jesus Messias and Adamec Lubos gave Naxxar, under the guidance of Vince Carbonaro, a 2-0 lead. Sirens pulled one back 10 minutes from time through Leonardo Gabrieli. On Monday, it was Senglea’s turn to achieve promotion. And they did it in style as first-half goals from Terence Vella, Beppe Muscat and Juninho Cabral handed them a 3-0 win over Melita at the Centenary Stadium. Senglea, with coach Stephen D’Amato at the helm, last played in the top category of Maltese football 35 years ago. Qormi maintained their promotion play-off hopes alive with a 3-0 win over relegated side Fgura United. Goals from Lawrence Chedozie, Dormond Micallef and Noah Ojuola gave Qormi three important points as they moved up to fourth in the table on 46 points, two ahead of Mqabba. Qormi play against Sirens on Sunday. Mqabba’s hopes suffered a blow on Friday as they went down 3-1 to Pietà Hotspurs who had on-loan winger Jurgen Suda scoring a hat-trick. Monday’s first game at the Centenary Stadium produced an eight-goal thriller with Vittoriosa Stars coming back from 3-1 down to beat relegated side Għargħur 5-3. Nigerian striker Obinna Obiefule scored a hat-trick for Vittoriosa. The other Division One match saw Rabat Ajax overcome Żebbuġ Rangers 3-2 with Ryan Micallef scoring a brace for the winners who staged a remarkable comeback in the final 10 minutes after falling two goals behind. Meanwhile, the Malta FA Competitions Department has revised the last-day fixtures of the BOV Division One championship as the title and promotion play-off issues are still undecided. The revised programme is:   Friday-28-Apr-2017 18:00 Centenary Stadium Pietà Hotspurs vs Melita Friday-28-Apr-2017 20:15 Centenary Stadium Vittoriosa Stars vs Rabat Ajax Saturday-29-Apr-2017 16:00 Victor Tedesco Stadium Fgura United vs Għargħur Saturday-29-Apr-2017 18:15 Victor Tedesco Stadium Marsa vs Żebbuġ Rangers Sunday-30-Apr-2017 16:00 Centenary Stadium Lija Athletic vs Mqabba Sunday-30-Apr-2017 16:00 Luxol Stadium Sirens vs Qormi Sunday-30-Apr-2017 16:00 Victor Tedesco Stadium Senglea Athletic vs Naxxar Lions