Tarxien Rainbows maintained their perfect start to the BOV Challenge League season with a 3-1 victory over Pietà Hotspurs, while Fgura United inflicted a first defeat on Victoria Hotspurs during the third round of matches.

Naxxar Lions also registered an important victory against Sirens, while Żebbuġ Rangers and St Andrews secured their first wins of the campaign.

Pietà Hotspurs 1–3 Tarxien Rainbows

Tarxien Rainbows made it three victories from three matches after recovering from an early setback to defeat ten-man Pietà Hotspurs at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Pietà took the lead after nine minutes through Precious Uchechukwu Nwankwo, whose powerful effort struck the crossbar before finding the net.

The hosts had an excellent opportunity to double their advantage in the 25th minute, but Nwankwo struck the crossbar from the penalty spot.

Pietà suffered another setback in the 37th minute when goalkeeper Jake Farrugia was dismissed for kicking an opponent while the ball was out of play.

Tarxien capitalised on their numerical advantage after the interval, with Norberto Jesus Jimenez Perez equalising in the 58th minute.

Just two minutes later, Jimenez Perez intercepted a defensive mistake and set up Hidesato Ueda, who calmly finished to put the Rainbows ahead.

Jurgen Debono completed the comeback eight minutes from time to preserve Tarxien’s 100 per cent record.

Victoria Hotspurs 0–3 Fgura United

Fgura United produced an impressive performance to hand Victoria Hotspurs their first defeat of the campaign at the Centenary Stadium.

The Gozitans almost opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Claudio Henrique struck the crossbar, while Andreas Vella also went close.

However, Fgura took the lead five minutes before half-time when Michael Gatt converted Bruno de Aguiar’s pass.

The visitors doubled their advantage three minutes after the restart through captain Samuel Buhagiar, who completed an excellent individual move before beating goalkeeper Steve Sultana.

Samuel Conrado de Almeida added a third in the 52nd minute following an attacking move down the left flank.

Victoria Hotspurs attempted to respond, but Fgura remained organised defensively to secure a convincing victory.

Sirens 2–3 Naxxar Lions

Naxxar Lions came from behind to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory over Sirens at the Centenary Stadium.

Sirens took the lead in the 16th minute through Alan David Schembri Wismayer and maintained their advantage until half-time.

However, Naxxar produced a strong second-half response, with Trezeguet Zammit equalising in the 62nd minute.

Leonardo Agius completed the turnaround in the 74th minute before Zammit scored his second goal in stoppage time to make it 3-1.

Leonardo De Bortoli pulled a goal back for Sirens late on, but Naxxar held firm to collect their second victory of the season and move onto six points.

Żebbuġ Rangers 1–0 Swieqi United

Żebbuġ Rangers secured their first victory of the campaign with a surprise 1-0 success over Swieqi United.

Swieqi dominated possession and created several opportunities, with Kojo Mawuena missing an early chance before Ayrton Attard struck the side-netting.

However, Żebbuġ broke the deadlock against the run of play when youngster Isaac Joseph Chetcuti produced an excellent curling effort into the corner.

Swieqi continued to press for an equaliser and came closest in the 75th minute when Vito Plut’s powerful header struck the crossbar.

Żebbuġ defended their slender advantage to claim three valuable points.

Mġarr United 2–0 Vittoriosa Stars D’Orsini

Mġarr United continued their encouraging start with a 2-0 victory over Vittoriosa Stars at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Bjorn Buhagiar gave Mġarr an early lead following a well-executed counterattack, placing his effort into the corner.

The Greens maintained their attacking momentum and doubled their advantage in the second half when Wisdom Igiebor converted from close range following excellent work by Job Rayvian.

Vittoriosa almost reduced the deficit through Duvan Alvarez, but Daniel Sant produced a crucial goal-line clearance.

The victory lifted Mġarr onto six points while handing Vittoriosa their first defeat of the season.

Gudja United 0–1 St Andrews

St Andrews registered their first victory of the season with a narrow 1-0 success over Gudja United.

Jean Paul Attard scored the decisive goal in the 24th minute, finishing a well-worked attacking move.

Gudja improved after the interval and enjoyed more possession, but struggled to create clear opportunities.

St Andrews also had chances to extend their advantage on the counterattack despite losing Koki Oda to injury.

The result condemned Gudja to their third successive defeat.

Santa Lucia 1–1 Żurrieq

Santa Lucia rescued a late point against Żurrieq thanks to a penalty converted by substitute Klose Azzopardi Conti.

Żurrieq made an excellent start, taking the lead after ten minutes through Sebastian Grech’s powerful strike.

The visitors maintained their narrow advantage for much of the encounter as Santa Lucia struggled to find a breakthrough.

However, the hosts were awarded a penalty in the 85th minute, with Azzopardi Conti converting to secure a 1-1 draw.

Attard 0–0 Melita

Attard and Melita shared the points following an entertaining goalless draw.

Melita enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, but Attard gradually took control and created several promising opportunities.

Attard were particularly unfortunate not to score, striking the woodwork on three occasions during the encounter.

Despite sustained pressure from both teams, neither managed to find the breakthrough as the match ended scoreless.

BOV Challenge League – Matchday 3 results

Tarxien’s third successive victory underlined their strong start to the campaign, while Fgura United and Naxxar Lions also strengthened their positions in the early standings.