Rabat and Qormi reach KO final

Qormi will be looking to complete the season in style today when they take on Rabat in the HAM KO final at Corradino with a league and cup double in the prospect after having made sure of the championship earlier this month.

In last weekend’s semi-finals, Qormi trounced Sliema Hotsticks 7-1 while Rabat had to stave off the bold challenge of Young Stars before clinching the tie 3-2.

Young Stars opened the score through Christian Bonello but Rabat equalised thanks to a Shawn Falzon goal from a short corner action.

Early in the second half both teams went close on a couple of occasions but Rabat then took the upper hand and in the 46th minute Charlot Antonelli put his team 2-1 ahead.

Antonelli’s goal rattled Young Stars and Rabat pulled further ahead with a Jonathan Micallef strike.

At this point, Young Stars had to venture forward to save the match.

Joseph Dalli did manage to reduce the deficit but despite their frantic efforts to force extra-time, Young Stars were unable to deny Rabat from a place in the final.

Qormi did all the early running in the other semi-final and never looked back after John Williams’s seventh-minute goal.

Jonathan Borg made it 2-0 and Saul Halladay netted the third goal just before half-time.

Qormi went 4-0 up when Borg scored his second goal before Ryan Dalli halted the rot by pulling one back for Hotsticks. However, when Qormi’s Andre Ghio converted a penalty on 61 minutes, the game was over as a contest.

Qormi went on to add a further two goals to their tally, through Joseph Cuschieri and Philip Magri, for a comfortable passage to the final.