Mosta dent Qormi’s top-six aspirations

Qormi 0
Mosta 1
Obiefule 18

Mosta maintained their revival of late and yesterday they edged Qormi 1-0 in a balanced encounter at the Ħamrun ground.

Obinna Obiefule was again the catalyst behind Mosta’s victory as the Nigerian netted his third goal for his new club who returned home with three priceless points that lifted them to eighth place in the standings... a remarkable turnaround for a team that was anchored at the bottom of the standings before new coach Steve D’Amato was engaged last November.

For Qormi, this upset was another huge blow to their aspirations of challenging for a top six place. The Yellow-Blacks were keen to beat Mosta and get back in the Championship Pool reckoning but for long stretches they lacked ideas and in the end they conceded another damaging defeat.

Dyson Falzon was handed his debut by D’Amato after completing his loan move from Valletta earlier in the week. Fellow new signings Predrag Mirceta, a Serbian midfielder, and Tanzania striker Zakaria Kibona started on the bench.

English defender Kris Thackray made his first showing for Qormi but striker Aboubakar Bello-Osagie was only fit enough to start among the substitutes after returning from a trial with Cracovia, of Poland.

Striker Jorginho was ruled out by suspension while Dino Cachia was injured.

Falzon immediately made his presence felt for the Blues when he came agonisingly close after five minutes. His fierce drive from outside the area flew just over.

Mosta’s early ascendancy finally paid off on 18 minutes when Jonathan Bajada raced clear on the right and sent in a swinging cross into the path of Obiefule who anticipated his marker and headed the ball past keeper Steve Sultana.

Qormi’s response arrived on 25 minutes but Joseph Farrugia’s free-kick was saved by Jonathan Debono, the Mosta goalkeeper.

Both teams only managed to threaten with long range shots and on one occasion Florent Raimy unleashed a powerful drive that sailed over the bar.

Qormi tried to step up the pressure but sorely felt Jorginho’s absence in attack and at the interval they were still trailing behind to Obiefule’s goal.

At the interval, Azzopardi withdrew Italian defender Federico Mirarchi and roped in Steve Wellman but the match maintained the same pattern on the restart – Qormi piling up the pressure and Mosta operating with quick breaks.

Qormi should have drawn level on 56 minutes when from a Joseph Farrugia corner Wellman incredibly headed over from routine distance.

Mosta were on the ropes now. Caio Suguino chested the ball into the path of Matthew Bartolo whose firm drive was punched away Debono.

Sensing his team’s sudden momentum, Azzopardi intro-duced Bello-Osagie as he looked to bolster his team’s attacking lines. Bartolo again came close but his stinging shot finished just over.

Qormi pressed on the accelerator and three minutes from time they thought they had evened the score when Joseph Chetcuti rammed the ball home from close in. However, the referee annulled the ‘goal’ for offside.

Then, in stoppage time, Debono saved Mosta when diving full stretch to tip away Triston Caruana’s dipping shot.

Qormi: S. Sultana-6, C. Suguino-5.5 (61 A. Bello-Osagie-5), R. Sammut-5, M. Bartolo-7, J. Chetcuti-5.5, J. Farrugia-6.5, L. Sciberras-5, F. Mirarchi-5 (46 S. Wellman-6), J. Bondin-6, K. Thackray-5.5, T. Caruana-6.

Mosta: J. Debono-7, A. Borg-6, K. Farrugia-6.5, F. Tisbi-6.5, Y. Ossok-7, F. Raimy-7, J. Bajada-7, K. Magro-6.5, D. Falzon-6 (54 F. Aboulezz-5), I. Zammit-6, O. Obiefule-7 (87 Z. Kibona).

Referee: Mario Apap.

Yellow cards: Sammut, Sciberras.

BOV Player of the match: Obinna Obiefule (Mosta).