Qormi boost top-six hopes

Ħamrun Spartans 0
Qormi 3
J. Farrugia 34; Jorginho 65, 77 pen;

Qormi scored a goal in each half to see off Ħamrun Spartans and reignite their hopes of a place in the Championship Pool.

It was a deserved victory for Qormi as the return of Joseph Farrugia certainly made the difference.

In fact, it had to be a moment of brilliance from the skipper that swayed the match in Qormi’s favour and from then on they never looked back as they hit the Spartans on the break with Jorginho scoring the decisive killer goals after the interval.

The result lifted Qormi to fourth place on 23 points level with Sliema Wanderers and Birkirkara while for the ninth-placed Reds any hopes of a top-six berth have all but evaporated.

Ħamrun were boosted with the return of goalkeeper Omar Borg as Qormi were without striker Daniel Nwoke. It seems, that the Nigerian arrived late from his Christmas holidays and was not even considered for selection yesterday.

It was Qormi who effected the first attempt at goal after six minutes. The Spartans struggled to clear following Farrugia’s corner with the ball falling into the path of Matthew Bartolo who fired just over.

Two minutes later, Jorginho had a good chance to put Qormi ahead when the Brazilian found himself unmarked in the box but headed Farrugia’s inviting ball badly.

Qormi remained the brighter side and on 18 minutes Bartolo released Jorginho who was through on goal but his effort was palmed away by Borg.

The Spartans’ first real attempt at the Qormi goal arrived on 27 minutes when they were awarded a free-kick but Massimo Grima’s effort lacked precision.

Then, in a swift raid, Carlo Polli floated the ball towards Anderson Ribeiro who headed over the Qormi bar.

The Spartans looked more threatening now and, from a Kevin Sammut free-kick, Stuart Duff did well to beat Ribeiro who was ready to push the ball into the net.

However, it was Qormi who struck on 34 minutes.

Niki Gacesa’s poor clearance saw the ball fall into the path of Farrugia who let fly an unstoppable shot that soared into the top corner of Borg’s goal.

Qormi had a good chance to double their lead soon after when Jorginho sped into the box and was blocked by Borg.

The referee, harshly for some, ordered a penalty and booked Borg as he judged that the keeper had fouled the Qormi forward.

However, Borg had the final say as he dived to his left to push away Farrugia’s spot-kick.

The Spartans started brightly after the interval and Ribeiro’s cross found Dene Shields whose header was stopped by Matthew Farrugia. Eight minutes later, the Qormi keeper had to be on the alert to keep out a stinging drive from Sammut.

Ħamrun were seeing more of the ball at this juncture but still struggled to create any decent scoring opportunities. On 64 minutes, they came agonisingly close when Calabretta centred towards Shields who just failed to connect with an open goal at his mercy.

The Reds paid dearly for that miss as barely a minute later Qormi doubled their lead when Bartolo released Jorginho who had little difficulty in stabbing the ball home.

Shields was denied by Farrugia who stopped his rasping drive but it was Qormi who wrapped up the points 13 minutes from time when Bonnici upended Jorginho inside the box and from the penalty the Brazilian almost lost his balance before making it 3-0.

Borg protested heavily as he felt that Jorginho had committed an infringement but the referee booked the keeper for a second time and subsequently he had to leave the pitch, making the last few minutes a stroll for Qormi.

Ħamrun Spartans
O. Borg, S. Bonnici-5.5, M. Gauci-6, N. Gacesa-5 (85 R. Spiteri), M. Grima-5.5 R. Mangion-5 (69 L.J. Agius-5), C. Polli-5, K. Sammut-6, G. Calabretta-5, D. Shields-5.5, A. Ribeiro-5 (81 A. Cassar) .

Qormi
M. Farrugia-6, J. Chetcuti-6, R. Sammut-6, M. Bartolo-7, J. Farrugia-7.5 (82 D. Cachia), K. Scicluna-6, F. Mirarchi-6, J. Bondin-6 (85 G. Buttigieg), Jorginho-7, S. Duff-6, A. Bello Osagie-5 (70 L. Sciberras-5).

Referee: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow cards: J. Farrugia, Borg, Bondin, Chetcuti, Grima.

Missed penalty: J. Farrugia (Q) 37.

BOV Player of the match: Joseph Farrugia (Qormi).