Qormi 7
Effiong 15; Nilsson 23; Marcelinho 30, 83; Levnaic 38; Villalobos 53; Vella 87;
Sirens 0

As the finale scoreline clearly indicates, Qormi broke little sweat in securing their place in the semi-finals of the FA Trophy as surprise package Sirens came crashing down to earth, yesterday.

It was a rampant attacking performance from Qormi who tore apart the Division Two team.

In fact, Sirens were never with a chance of repeating the heroics of the previous round when they had hit six goals past Gudja United, the promotion hopefuls from Division One.

Duncan Pisani was the undoubted protagonist for Qormi. Despite not putting his name on the scoresheet, he had a hand in the majority of the goals scored by his team yesterday as his surging runs created havoc in the Sirens defence.

Marcelinho was another outstanding performer for Qormi, particularly for his distribution of the ball and openings in the opponents’ half not to mention a well-taken double.

In the end, Qormi were left celebrating their first victory after several weeks, a success that not only enabled them to book their place in the semi-finals of the competition for the fifth time in the last sixth years but also provided a timely boost ahead of a most crucial phase of the campaign where they will be engaged in a tight relegation battle.

Qormi coach Mark Miller opted to rest three first-team players as Uzeh Edafe, Alejandro Mendoza and Leighton Grech were not in-cluded in the 18-man squad.

Swedish striker Alexander Nilsson was handed his first start since joining the Yellow-Blacks last month with Ryan Micallef included among the substitutes.

Joseph Chetcuti was also back in the fray while new signing Gustavo Villalobos, a US attacking midfielder, was on the bench.

Sirens were again banking on the speed of their wingers Lee Joe Schembri and Daniel Cremona, who impressed in the 6-0 mauling of Gudja United, to supply chief striker Ricardo Severino.

As expected, it was Qormi who made all the early running and after five minutes Pisani headed into the path of Alfred Effiong who flicked his shot against the upright.

Qormi’s Marcelinho (no.8) scores from a free-kick during yesterday’s FA Trophy quarter-final against Sirens. Photos: Paul Zammit Cutajar

Qormi got the breakthrough they wanted on 15 minutes when Pisani’s measured pass released Effiong who beat the offside trap before hitting low past goalkeeper Gianni Spiteri.

Sirens protested vehemently with the assistant referee as they deemed that the Qormi goalscorer was offside but the referee was unmoved and instead booked George Falzon for persistent protests.

Qormi doubled their lead on 23 minutes. Nilsson won possession in midfield and exchanged passes with Chetcuti on his way to beating the keeper with a cool finish.

Sirens were rattled and Qormi piled more misery on their modest opponents when they were awarded a central free-kick from which Marcelinho curled the ball into the net.

Sirens were lost and the tie was all but settled on 38 minutes when from a corner, Marcelinho’s delivery was met by Zoran Levnaic who sent a powerful header past the keeper.

Sirens finally recorded their first shot on target six minutes from the break when Severino tried his luck from the distance but his effort was blocked by goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia.

Four goals to the good, Miller handed Villalobos his debut when he came on for Nilsson at the start of the second half.

The attacking midfielder took little time to make an impact on the field as on 53 minutes Pisani showed great skill to wrongfoot Adam Debattista before teeing up Villalobos who stabbed the ball into the net.

Despite a commanding lead, Qormi continued to push more men forward and they almost added a sixth goal when Effiong anticipated his marker to meet Marcelinho’s corner but his downward header was kept out by Spiteri.

Sirens had a rare opportunity when Daniel Cremona pounced on some hesitant defending from Billy Bernsston to surge forward and release Ryan Sciberras. However, the Sirens substitute miscued his shot.

Twenty minutes from time, Pisani again made headway on the right before sending a dipping cross for Marcelinho who just failed to make contact in front of a gaping goal.

Two minutes later, Villalobos should have struck again when he met Pisani’s cross but headed over from routine distance.

An elaborate Qormi move saw them scoring a sixth goal on 83 minutes.

Villalobos picked Effiong who did well to move past his marker and sending a low cross across the face of goal where Pisani picked ­Marcelinho and the latter blasted the ball into the roof of the net.

Emerson Vella, who had earlier replaced Steve Agius, completed the rout late on when he beat two opponents before placing his shot beyond the keeper’s reach.

The woodwork denied Qormi an eighth goal when Spiteri booted the ball into the path of Villalobos whose first-time volley came off the bar.

But that little mattered as Qormi were long home and dry.

Qormi
M. Farrugia, Marcelinho, S. Agius (77 E. Vella), A. Effiong, C. Gauci, J. Chetcuti (68 B. Bondin), A. Nillson (46 G. Villalobos), Z. Levnaic, D. Pisani, J. Bondin, B. Berntsson.

Sirens
G. Spiteri, D. Sant, A. Neda, K. Galea, A. Debattista, G. Falzon, D. Cremona (82 G. Grant), J. Debono (76 C. Vella), J. Zammit (62 R. Sciberras), R. Severino, L. Schembri.

Referee: Sean Grant (Ireland FA).

Yellow cards: Falzon, Severino, Marcelinho.