Tarxien floor Qormi to stay in top-six race

Tarxien Rainbows- 2, Qormi - 0

Tarxien Rainbows boosted their chances of claiming a place in the Championship Pool with a 2-0 victory over high-fliers Qormi at the Hibs Stadium this afternoon.

The Blues deserved their win as they were the more organised team with Brazilian playmaker Denni offering a constant menace to the Qormi defence.

Tarxien’s second successive win took them on the 21-point mark, one point ahead of Hamrun Spartans. Qormi remain third on 29 points after conceding their second defeat in a row.

Scoring chances were few and far between in the opening stages. Denni hit a long-range shot but Matthew Farrugia, the Qormi goalkeeper, touched the ball away for a corner.

Qormi were surprisingly subdued in the first half. Ryan Deguara tried to inject life into Qormi’s attacking play with a strong diagonal run that took him past Tarxien goalkeeper Anthony Curmi but the winger’s cross from a tight angle was cleared away by Steve Sadowski.

Just past the half-hour mark, Tarxien struck. Denni was solely responsible for Tarxien’s opener as his twisting run into the box forced Qormi defender Ramon to bring him down and concede a penalty. Denni made no mistake from the 11-metre spot.

Eight minutes from half-time, Tarxien threatened to make it 2-0 but Ribeiro headed wide from Justin Grioli’s cross.

Qormi increased the pressure on Tarxien in the second half but their efforts were held off by the strong Tarxien defence.

Joseph Farrugia had a shot saved by Anthony Curmi, the Tarxien goalkeeper, and Camilo’s close-range effort was blocked by Everton.

Three minutes from time, Tarxien secured their victory when Denni set up Mark Tanti who beat Farrugia with a well-placed shot.