Floriana 3
Coronado 19; Casha 54, 67;
Ħamrun Spartans 1
Grima 31;
The pressure was on Ħamrun Spartans.
They knew they had to collect all the points at the expense of Floriana to keep their slim hopes of staving off relegation.
Matters became complicated when they fell behind early in the match following a freak goal.
However, an almost immediate equaliser gave the Spartans a breather but then Floriana’s home-grown youngster Luca Casha, until then a virtually unknown pro-position, took Ħamrun apart with two second-half goals.
Casha’s brace sealed Ħamrun’s fate as the fallen giants of Maltese football were relegated to Division One, to the delight of Rabat Ajax who are now assured another season in the top flight as they have an unassailable four-point lead over the demoted Spartans.
Two of the three changes in Floriana’s team from the 2-1 defeat of Rabat Ajax were enforced upon coach Iain Brunskill by the suspensions of goalkeeper Tony Warner, who was replaced by Jonathan Debono, and Steve Pisani. The latter’s void was filled by Sacha Borg while Joseph Borg was preferred to Thomas Paris.
Already missing the services of Malta forward Terence Vella, Spartans coach Stefan Sultana left two other experienced players on the bench as goalkeeper Anthony Curmi and Roderick Fenech were out of the first team. He moved Massimo Grima to a more advanced position to give more weight to the Spartans’ attack.
Ħamrun looked to be in for a tough afternoon against the more adventurous Greens who were coming from six wins in a row. And Floriana could not have hoped for a better lift-off, taking the lead after 19 minutes.
Their opener owed everything to luck as Ħamrun goalkeeper Andrea Cassar’s attempted clearance from Igor Coronado hit the Brazilian striker with the ball flying back into the net.
The Reds had a sheepish look about them. Their response came six minutes later when the hard-working David Camilleri released Emiliano Lattes but his shot was saved by Debono.
It was not long before the Spartans were back on level terms.
Past the half-hour mark, good work by Glenn Azzopardi had him running through the heart of the Floriana defence before passing to the unmarked Grima who buried the ball into the net.
Ħamrun whipped up more spirit, even if Floriana kept operating on breaks. Late in the first half, Lattes was on spot to receive a menacing cross by Camilleri but the Argentine’s effort was blocked by Debono.
Floriana winger Udo Nwoko failed to emerge for the second half with Casha taking his place. The young striker turned out to be the trump card up Brunskill’s sleeve as he combined with seasoned winger Trevor Cilia and Coronado to produce an attacking performance of the highest calibre.
Ħamrun could do nothing but bow to Floriana’s burgeoning talents.
After 50 minutes, the Spartans defence was unlocked by a neat three-man move. Gary Roberts picked the ball near the halfway line and exchanged it with Cilia as Casha ran in to meet a strong cross by the former Sliema player but could only put a desperate touch to the ball which flashed wide.
Four minutes later, Coronado ran past the Ħamrun rearguard on the right before playing in Casha who made no mistake as he hit a diagonal shot at the far post.
Floriana were in no mood to let the win slip away and in another inspirational moment, Casha burst through the opponents’ defence, rounded Luke Grech before unleashing a low shot into the net.
Cilia was also in sprightly form and continued to venture forward at will. In the 75th minute, he was unlucky to skim the bar with a long-distance effort.
Ħamrun’s afternoon turned into a nightmare five minutes later when they were reduced to 10 men as substitute Fenech was dismissed for bringing down the goalbound Coronado on the edge of the box.
In the dying minutes, Coronado’s free-kick was wide before scores of faithful Spartans fans gave a standing ovation to the dejected Ħamrun players as they left the pitch.
Floriana
J. Debono-6, C. Tremarco-6, O. Bugeja-6, G. Roberts-6.5, K. Farrugia-5.5, C. Borg-6 (76 T. Paris), J. Borg-6, S. Borg-6.5, T. Cilia-7.5 (86 L. Scorfna), I. Coronado-6.5, U. Nwoko-5 (46 L. Casha-7).
Ħamrun Spartans
A. Cassar-5, G. Azzopardi-5.5, D. Camilleri-6.5, B. Guga-5, T. Scerri-4, R. Spiteri-5 (60 A. Micallef-4), G. Favero-5 (60 R. Fenech), E. Lattes-5, M. Grima-6.5, A. Borg-5, L. Grech-5 ( 71 R. Refalo).
Referee: Clayton Pisani.
Yellow cards: Nwoko; Grima.
Red card: Fenech (ĦS) 80.
BOV player of the match: Trevor Cilia (Floriana).