Balzan 4
Conceicao 10, 66; N’Dekre 57; Darmanin 83;
Qormi 4
Chetcuti 43; Effiong 52, 64; Cassar 80;
With both teams searching the road to redemption after falling into the Relegation Pool, Balzan and Qormi served up an eight-goal thriller that offered some great entertainment for the small crowd present.
The final 4-4 scoreline did little to boost either side’s position in the standings with Qormi now joining Floriana on the 22-point mark at the top of the section with Balzan following behind, just two adrift.
Qormi coach Jesmond Zerafa continued to rotate his goalkeepers as Matthew Farrugia started ahead of Steve Sultana while Alessio Cassar and Matthew Bartolo were also handed first-team recalls. Edison Bilboa Zarate was suspended.
Ivan Zammit, the Balzan coach, was forced to reshuffle his line-up as Bjorn Bondin and Dylan Grima were roped in to replace the suspended Christian Caruana and the injured Matthew Mendy. Fredrick Tabone was given a rare start in goal while Firas Aboulezz started ahead of Jamie Pace.
Balzan were faster out of the blocks as Ryan Darmanin took just 39 seconds to prise open the opposing defence, only to see his grounder finish off the far post.
Qormi gradually worked their way into the game and created a spate of open scoring chances in a five-minute period.
Tabone denied Moises Avila Perez and then, after nine minutes, Alfred Effiong managed to run on the left flank but his effort was blocked by the Balzan goalkeeper.
Zerafa’s side were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal as Balzan took the lead on 10 minutes thanks to Renato Conceicao.
Roderick Sammut hesitated as the ball dropped in the penalty area and when the defender eventually decided to deal with it he succeeded only in driving it at Dylan Grima. The rebound fell favourably to the Brailian who stormed into the box and drilled a low shot past Farrugia.
Yet, two minutes from half-time, Qormi drew level.
Joseph Chetcuti got himself on the end of an Avila Perez cross before slotting the ball into the net.
The equaliser had an uplifting effect on Qormi who took the lead after 52 minutes. Avila Perez showed great vision to release Effiong who blasted home.
Shy the hour mark, Stefan Giglio smacked a free-kick beyond Farrugia but the ball ricocheted off both posts. The rebound dropped at Elie Moises N’Dekre’s feet who buried the ball behind the goalkeeper.
But seven minutes later, Balzan fell again behind when Chetcuti raced through the unsteady defence, before playing off Effiong who placed into the net.
But Qormi’s joy was shortlived and barely one minute later, Balzan drew level again. Running on to Jacob Borg’s pass, Conceicao beat Farrugia with a fierce grounder.
The better football was always played by Qormi and their fans were treated to a gem of a goal on 80 minutes as substitute Christian Cassar’s thumping effort flew past Tabone.
But Balzan kept fighting and three minutes later, Aboulezz’s corner was met with a glancing far-post header by Darminin that flew in off the bar.
Balzan
F. Tabone-5, J. Borg-5.5 (83 C. Micallef), A. Agius-5 (68 R. Forace-5), Y. Camilleri-5, S. Giglio-5, B. Bondin-4.5 (77 J. Francica), F. Aboulezz-5.5, D. Grima-4.5, R. Conceicao-7.5, R. Darmanin-6, E. Moises N’Dekre-6.
Qormi
M. Farrugia-5, K. Thackray-5, R. Sammut-5, M. Bartolo-5.5 (63 C. Cassar-4), A. Effiong-6.5, J. Chetcuti-7, M. Avila Perez-7.5 (86 L. Grech), L. Sciberras-6, M. Gauci-5, J. Bondin-5, A. Cassar-5.
Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: Agius, Thackray, Grech, Conceicao.
BOV player of the match: Moises Avila Perez (Qormi).
Attendances: 341.