Mifsud’s double edges Qormi closer to safety

Vittoriosa 1
Campagnoli 54;
Qormi 4
Mifsud 7, 46; Bello Osagie 32; Josue 87 pen;

Qormi made a bold step towards Premier League survival following a life-saving victory over Vittoriosa Stars yesterday.

If Stephen Azzopardi’s side has rubber-stamped their permanency in top-flight football, even the most optimistic Vittoriosa fan would find it hard to forecast a Houdini act for Winston Muscat’s men, now destined to a quick return to first division football.

It was an unusual match played under a continuous downpour which rendered the pitch almost unfit for play. Michael Mifsud regained his scoring touch at a crucial time, showing his sharpness in the opening minutes and going on to practically seal the points after the break.

After the change of ends, Vittoriosa came back into the game with Carlos Campagnoli slotting in to give them hope but Josue thumped in Qormi’s fourth at the death.

A huge boost for both sides was the return of their first-choice goalkeepers as Vittoriosa’s Simon Agius and Qormi’s Matthew Farrugia were restored between their respective goals.

But the rain-soaked pitch did not make things easy for the returning goalkeepers as they had to pay extra attention, lest the wet turf skewed the ball’s flight.

Qormi could not have hoped for a better lift-off, taking the lead after just seven minutes. From a Joseph Farrugia corner, Mifsud outjumped Jeffrey Chetcuti and in no time the ball was in the net.

Having weathered Qormi’s early flurry, the Stars began to share the exchanges. After a quarter of the hour, Luis Edison tried to profit from a goalmouth melee between Farrugia and Jason Vandelainotte – who under pressure from Jorge Santos Silva had failed to deal with a cross from Campagnoli – but the striker headed feebly into the hands of the goalkeeper.

Just after the half hour mark, Matthew Farrugia pulled off a fine save to stop a swerving shot by Campagnoli.

Yet, the game was only 32 minutes old when Qormi surged 2-0 ahead. The elusive Ho-Jung drew two Vittoriosa defenders to him before passing the ball to Abubaker Bello-Osagie who unleashed a curling low shot into the net.

Vittoriosa’s assistant coach Darren Abdilla, deputising for the suspended Muscat, elected to throw Anthony Ewurum in the mix instead of Murilo Maccari in a bid to add extra punch to Vittoriosa’s forward line.

But the Stars were stunned and, as they toiled to get to grips with the fact that they were two down in a must-win game, Qormi threatened to compound more misery.

Qormi won a number of flag-kicks from the left flank where Vittoriosa looked vulnerable.

The Stars ventured forward on rare occasions and Jonathan Xerri contrived to connect to a free-kick by Campagnoli before lifting a header over the bar, six minutes before the interval.

It was much the same pattern after the break and Mifsud again went on the warpath to nearly put Azzopardi’s mind at rest in the 46th minute. It was a freak goal in the sense that the nippy striker slipped as he planted his standing foot but the result was the same reassuring for the Yellows supporters.

Despite the difficulties in getting the ball forward, Matthew Farrugia distinguished himself again when fisting away a rising Campagnoli shot after 50 minutes.

And four minutes later, from a corner taken by Alan Tabone, the Stars pulled a goal back courtesy of Campagnoli who beat Farrugia with a header.

Few moments later, Edison rattled the bar with a rising shot as the game opened up with Vittoriosa committing more men forward.

The Stars’ approach left them vulnerable to Qormi’s counter attacks and from a typical breakaway, Mifsud outpaced his marker Jeffrey Chetcuti but the striker lost his balance in the area after a challenge by Agius but referee Marco Borg waved play on.

Josue was brought on for Bello Osagie to add some bite in the Qormi attack and the Portuguese could have grabbed an instant goal but he shot wide in the 71st minute.

Minutes were ticking away and Qormi became increasingly nervous when Alan Tabone got a touch to the ball on a cross from Santos Silva but the safe hands of Farrugia brought relief to the fans.

But Qormi put the issue beyond doubt three minutes from time, when Vittoriosa lost all sense of discipline when Ryan Grech gave away a foul in the box when he hauled to the ground Farrugia as he tried to bundle in the rebound after Giglio hit the upright. Josue showed no nerves as he converted the penalty albeit Agius guessed right to tip the ball into the net.

In the dying minutes, Matthew Farrugia crowned his fine performance by denying Compagnoli another goal, palming his effort over the bar.

Vittoriosa
S. Agius-6, M. Maccari-4 (36 A. Ewurum-5), J. Camilleri-5, J. Chetcuti-4, C. Campagnoli-7, L. Edison-6.5, R. Grech-6, J. Xerri-5, J. Santos Silva-5, S. Wellman-4, A. Tabone-6 (83 D. Cachia).

Qormi
M. Farrugia-7, J. Vandelainotte-7, J. Giglio-6, C. Karamanolis-6, K. Fenech-6, M. Mifsud-6.5 (88 B Camilleri), J. Chetcuti-6 (70 G. Mallia), J. Farrugia-6.5, A. Bello-Osagie-6 (60 Josue), J. Bondin-6, K. Ho-Jung-6.5.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Yellow cards: Grech, Farrugia, Fenech.

BOV player of the match: Michael Mifsud (Qormi).