Spartans leave it late

Hamrun Spartans 2
Spiteri 20; Fenech 87
Floriana 1
Darmanin 69

A late goal from Roderick Fenech earned Ħamrun Spartans a priceless victory over Floriana in a Relegation Pool clash at the Hibs Stadium.

It was a dramatic ending to a hard-fought encounter which saw the Spartans dominate proceedings in the opening 45 minutes but at half-time they only had a Gaetan Spiteri goal to show for all their efforts.

The match took a completely different look after the interval as Floriana came back strongly and deservedly drew level but when it seemed that a draw was in the offing Fenech tapped home the winner to earn the Spartans three useful points that lifted them at the top of the Relegation Pool, two ahead of Floriana and five clear of second-bottom Msida St Joseph.

Both teams fielded new recruits yesterday as the Spartans gave a debut to Nigerian forward Obinna Obifuele, who replaced Portuguese Joao Mawete, while Michael Ghebru, a replacement for Russian forward Victor Zlydarev, was in the Greens' starting formation.

The Spartans were on the offensive right from the outset and inside the opening two minutes they looked to have a genuine call for a penalty when Marcelo Pereira was floored in the box by Floriana goalkeeper Bernard Paris but the referee waved play on.

On seven minutes, Ian Zammit found Obifuele who set up Manolito Micallef but his fierce drive was pushed to a corner by Paris.

The Spartans' pressure paid off on 20 minutes when Micallef served Spiteri who moved past his marker before chipping the ball over the advancing Paris.

Buoyed by this advantage Ħamrun kept up the tempo and on 22 minutes Paris misjudged Rupert Mangion's corner, the ball fell to Zammit whose powerful drive was palmed away by the retrieving goalkeeper.

Floriana were clearly struggling at this juncture with Ryan Darmanin too isolated upfront. Their first attempt at goal arrived on 37 minutes when Stefan Lijeskic's shot from the distance missed the target.

Six minutes from the break, Obifuele dashed into the Greens' box before serving Spiteri who found Brian Said in his way as he was about to shoot. A minute later, Pereira's inswinger was met by Spiteri but the Ħamrun forward was denied by Paris.

Two minutes from the break, Floriana almost drew level when Darmanin found himself in ample space but his shot was dealt with by Ivan Casha.

During half-time, coach Popovic withdrew Jermain Brincat and roped in Roberto Brincat and Floriana looked an improved lot.

On 52 minutes Ghebru intercepted a poor Ħamrun clearance before serving Darmanin who was unlucky to see his header hit the upright.

The Greens remained the more enterprising side and on 62 minutes Lijeskic's shot rolled just wide. They drew level seven minutes later when Darmanin's long range drive was deflected by Fenech past a helpless Casha.

Ħamrun had lost most of their first-half allure but came agonisingly close to nose ahead when Mangion's shot from the distance flashed past the upright.

At the other end, Ghebru combined well with Darmanin but his grounder did not trouble Casha.

Then, three minutes from time, the Spartans struck the winner. Obifuele powered forward before releasing Zammit whose shot smacked against the post. From the rebound, however, Fenech tapped the ball home to send the Ħamrun followers into raptures.

Floriana were stunned and in added time Manolito Micallef came close to wrap up the points for the Spartans but his shot from an angle was pushed away to a corner by Paris.

Ħamrun Spartans: I. Casha-6, M.A. Bonnici-6.5, R. Mangion-7, R. Fenech-7.5, M. Micallef-7, M. Pereira-6 ('81 M. Mifsud), G. Spiteri-6.5 ('79 M. Barbara), M. Hrubsa-6.5, O. Obifuele-6.5, C. Camoin-6, I. Zammit-6.

Floriana: B. Paris-6.5, B. Said-6, S. Grima-5.5, J. Brincat-5 ('46 R. Brincat-5), P. Doffo-6.5, S. Borg-5, M. Spiteri-6 ('87 A. Abela), M. Ghebru-7, R. Darmanin-6.5, S. Lijeskic-6, C. Borg-5.

Referee: Anton Zammit.

Yellow cards: Micallef, Obifuele, Fenech, R. Brincat, Spiteri, Bonnici, Zammit.

BOV Player of the match: Gaetan Spiteri (Ħamrun Spartans).