Qormi 2
Effiong 4; Camilo 41
Tarxien Rainbows 0
Camilo da Silva ended his goal drought last night as Qormi injected new life into their title bid with a hard-fought victory over Tarxien to end a three-game winless sequence. The Brazilian striker had failed to score in his previous seven league games.
So, Qormi earned their first points in the Championship Pool and their first clean sheet in three matches, together with a commanding display, will surely please coach Jesmond Zerafa.
They came out of the blocks at lightning speed and built on their overall superiority until both teams struggled for momentum in a dour second half but it was all academic by then.
Qormi now sit three points clear of Sliema in third place. With seven games left and some daunting assignments ahead, their future is likely to be shaped in the coming weeks.
But only if Camilo rediscovers his confidence after a dip in form, could Qormi have a say on the league title. No one will be more aware of that than Zerafa who preferred the Brazilian from Matthew Bartolo in attack yesterday.
The former Sliema player has been an influential performer for Qormi since arriving on loan in January and his omission will doubtless have had some supporters scratching their heads. Zerafa's confidence in Camilo, however, was vindicated in less than four minutes play.
That is how long it took Alfred Effiong to capitalise on Camilo's surging turn inside the area before feeding the ball back to the Nigerian who fired home his ninth league goal of the season.
It was the clue for an inspired performance by Camilo and with the pressure fully released from his shoulders, he doubled the lead just before half-time.
With the Tarxien defenders chasing shadows, Effiong turned provider as Camilo latched on to an inviting ball and outpaced Steve Sadowski before beating Cassar with a precise finish.
In the initial sparring, Qormi had acquitted themselves in an organised and disciplined manner and limited Tarxien to shots from the distance.
Denni was Tarxien's main threat early on as he tried his luck on several occasions. He came closest on 17 minutes when he produced an exquisite chip over the back-tracking Farrugia to strike the inside of the upright with the ball bouncing back into play.
After the break, Tarxien started to dictate matters but they rarely looked like turning their dominance into goals.
On 66 minutes, referee Marco Borg awarded them an indirect free-kick when Ramon dos Santos knocked the ball away from Denni and keeper Farrugia picked it up. Denni fired his shot into the wall on his second attempt after the Qormi defence had encroached.
On 79 minutes, Luke Vella Critien was played through by Camilleri only to blaze his shot over.
Qormi came straight back at their opponents and Effiong drilled a venomous effort into the side-netting on 83 minutes.
The Yellows earned a number of free-kicks in dangerous areas but failed to capitalize late on.
Qormi: M. Farrugia-7, K. Spiteri-6, R. Dos Santos-6, S. Wellman-6, J. Farrugia-6, R. Sammut-6, M. Grima-6.5, K. Fenech-6.5, S. Giglio-6 (79' D. Pisani), A. Effiong-7.5 (90' R. Deguara), Camilo-7 (86' M. Bartolo).
Tarxien Rainbows: D. Cassar-5, S. Sadowski-5 (46' J. Grioli-6), D. Camilleri-6, E. Pereira-5, L. Vella Critien-6.5, M. Tanti-5 (61' R. Grech-5), G. Calabretta-6, M. Caruana-6, R. Mintoff-6, K. Magro-5, Denni-7.
Referee: Marco Borg.
Yellow cards: Sammut, Effiong, Vella Critien, Grioli, Pereira, Magro, Farrugia.
BoV player of the match: Alfred Effiong (Qormi).