Valletta 3 Hamrun 2

Title hopefuls Valletta made hard work of beating Hamrun Spartans at the National Stadium this evening.

Just as they had done in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Tarxien Rainbows, Valletta contrived to throw away a two-goal lead against the Spartans but Doding Priso converted his second penalty 17 minutes into the second half to avoid another disappointing result for the Citizens.

Victory for Valletta enabled them to cut the gap on leaders Qormi to two points while the battling Spartans suffered their second defeat in a row.

Valletta broke the deadlock after 11 minutes. Kevin Sammut’s free-kick from the left sailed towards the unmarked Jordi Cruyff who headed past Ivan Casha. Six minutes later, the Citizens doubled their lead from a penalty.

Referee Chris Lautier pointed to the spot after Casha was deemed to have floored Terrence Scerri in the box. Cameroonian winger Priso drove his shot into the bottom-left corner of the net to put Valletta 2-0 ahead.

For a period in the first half, it looked as though Valletta were in total control but Hamrun’s late revival produced instant dividends. Marcelo Pereira narrowed the deficit five minutes from half-time with a well-placed shot after being put through by Joao Batista Mawete.

Four minutes later, the Portuguese forward won Spartans a penalty after his progression in the box was halted by Luke Dimech.

Pereira made it 2-2 from the spot. Inflamed by their team’s unexpected decline, the Valletta fans made their feelings known to the players as these headed for the dressing rooms for the half-time break.

The Citizens started the second half like a house on fire. Sammut twice shot over but on 62 minutes, Valletta regained the lead courtesy of a Priso penalty after Jamie Pace had been thrown off balance inside the box.

Before Valletta’s goal, Roderick Fenech headed just wide for the Spartans who went close again through Mawete whose header was also off target. In the dying stages, Priso fired wide from a favourable position while the Spartans twice threatened to score an equaliser through headers by substitute Diego Cucciardi and Mawete.