Qormi 2
Grima 36; Camilo 62
Ħamrun Spartans 0

Qormi surged three points clear at the top of the BOV Premier League after seeing off rivals Ħamrun Spartans in a tense derby.

Watched by a bumper crowd, the match lived up to expectations of a hard-fought tussle between these two neighbouring rivals with Qormi emerging winners after executing their tactical plan to perfection.

Jesmond Zerafa's men adopted a patient approach, opting to contain the Spartans' pressure and hit their opponents with fast breaks through forwards Camilo and Alfred Effiong.

It was a match of few scoring chances with Qormi taking the lead nine minutes from the end of the first half after Massimo Grima profited from some poor defending by the Spartans.

Ħamrun staged a stirring fightback in the second half but it was Qormi who struck the killer blow through Camilo to go three points clear of Hibs and Valletta, with the latter having a game in hand.

Zerafa fielded his strongest formation with Brazilian forward Camilo restored to his attacking station alongside Effiong after recovering from injury.

For Ħamrun, Jonathan Holland failed to recover from a muscle strain and was replaced by Mark Barbara in midfield.

As expected, the match was balanced with both sides looking to gain the early edge in midfield.

After nine minutes, Qormi's Ryan Deguara raced clear on the right before sending a teasing cross towards Effiong who miscued his effort.

At the other end, the Spartans were awarded a corner. Rupert Mangion's cross was met by Joao Mawete but his thumping header ricocheted off the crossbar.

On 19 minutes, Joseph Farrugia lobbed the ball towards Effiong but the Nigerian's header was too weak to trouble Ħamrun keeper Ivan Casha.

Qormi remained the more dangerous side and on 32 minutes, Effiong pounced on some hesitant defending by the Spartans to burst through but his diagonal shot rolled wide.

The stalemate was broken nine minutes from the break when the Ħamrun defence failed to deal with a Farrugia free-kick and Grima was on hand to tuck the ball into an empty net.

After the change of ends, Ħamrun brought more urgency to their game. A minute into the second half, Gaetan Spiteri raced into the box where he was tackled by Stephen Wellman. The Spartans' shouts for a penalty were ignored by referee Andre Arciola.

On 51 minutes, Barbara fired a rasping drive that hit a Qormi defender before rolling past the upright.

Nine minutes later, Qormi keeper Matthew Farrugia was well-positioned to keep out substitute Clyde Camoin's curling free-kick.

However, Ħamrun's hopes of a recovery suffered a significant blow two minutes past the hour when Qormi doubled their lead.

The goal owed everything to the skill and ability of Qormi's prolific striker Camilo who had been quiet until then. The Brazilian did well to control a long pass from Farrugia before sweeping past Martin Hrubsa and unleashing a powerful drive that flew into the top corner of the net.

Six minutes later, Effiong almost made it 3-0 but the Nigerian's run was blocked by Casha.

Scoring chances proved hard to come by in the final 20 minutes of the match. Spiteri tried his luck with a dipping header that went wide as the Spartans looked to reopen the match.

Fourteen minutes from time, Marcelo Pereira sped past Jonathan Bondin before sending a low cross but Mano Micallef just failed to make contact with the ball, much to the dismay of the Spartans fans.

Effiong could have piled more misery on his former employers in stoppage time but his firm drive was pushed away for a corner by Casha.

Qormi
M. Farrugia-6.5, J. Bondin-6, R. Dos Santos-8, R. Sammut-6.5, S. Wellman-6.5, J. Farrugia-6.5, K. Fenech-6, M. Grima-6.5 ('82 J. Chetcuti), R. Deguara-6 ('75 K. Spiteri), Camilo-6.5 ('90 S. Pace), A. Effiong-6.5.

Ħamrun Spartans
I. Casha-5, A. Attard-6, R. Mangion-6.5, R. Fenech-6.5, M. Barbara-6, N. Galea-5.5 ('49 C. Camoin-5), M. Pereira-5.5, G. Spiteri-5.5, M. Hrubsa-6, J. Mawete-5, M. Micallef-5.

Referee: Andre Arciola.

Yellow cards: Fenech; Farrugia; Casha.

BoV player of the match: Massimo Grima (Qormi).

Playing today: Tedesco Stadium - 7.30 p.m. Sliema W. vs Birkirkara.

Tomorrow: Tedesco Stadium - 6.30 p.m. Valletta vs Tarxien.

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