Coach Jacques Scerri hailed the character of his players as Ħamrun Spartans produced a fighting display to hold title challengers Hibernians to a thrilling 3-3 draw at the National Stadium, last weekend.
Facing one of the best-equipped sides in the championship, the odds were heavily stacked against the Reds who came into the match on the back of four successive defeats in league and cup matches.
Despite the difficult scenario, Scerri still opted for some bold decisions as he overhauled his formation, bringing in five fringe players to his starting XI to face the Paolites.
The move reaped its desired dividends as Scerri’s team looked more lively with the returning Leandro Motta forming a pacey three-pronged attack along with Massimiliano Giusti and Saturday Nanapere, causing plenty of problems to the normally-solid Hibs defence.
“All credit should be given to the players as they produced the right response to the heavy criticism they faced in recent weeks,” Scerri told The Times of Malta.
“In my opinion, Hibernians are among the best sides in the league and we knew that we needed a big performance to avoid another upset.
“But the players rose to the challenge and shared the exchanges for long spells, even managing to score three goals.
“The real character of the players came to the fore and their efforts were rewarded with a deserved point that will hopefully infuse more self-belief in the side.”
Scerri, who took the Ħamrun job in December, said that when he accepted the post he was aware that he needed time to find his ideal formation and tactics.
“When you join a club in the middle of the season it’s not easy to leave an instant mark as you need time to transmit your ideas to the players and try out different formations,” Scerri said.
“The last few weeks have been very disappointing in terms of results and given the situation I had nothing to lose so I tried out a different style of play.
“The team adapted well to the changes and those who came in showed that although they have not been involved a lot lately they were still passionate to the cause.”
Scerri, formerly of Tarxien Rainbows, said he accepted to join Ħamrun last year with the aim of helping the club reach a higher level. He reckons the early signs look promising.
Long-term goal
“Ħamrun are some way from being considered among the leading sides but our long-term goal is to start challenging for the main honours in the not so distant future,” Scerri said.
“We are working hard to build solid foundations and during the January transfer window the club also brought in a couple of promising players who are already showing that they can play a big part in the future of our club.”
Scerri’s immediate concern is to steer the club to a safer mid-table position. At present eighth-placed Ħamrun are enjoying an assuring 11-point lead over second-bottom Mosta.
Next weekend, the Spartans play Gżira United who are also fighting to avoid the drop. Scerri hopes his players can continue where they left off last weekend.
“We cannot take Gżira lightly because they’re fighting hard to avoid relegation,” he said.
“At present, we have a very handy lead over the others in the bottom half but there are a lot of matches left and our future is far from settled. So we need to continue picking up points to secure our status as early as possible.
“Gżira have won their last two matches and are going through a very positive spell so I’m expecting a very difficult match. Our last showing was very encouraging but we need to continue to raise our bar in terms of performances.
“I have a lot of faith in this group of players and I am sure that if they continue to play with the same determination shown against Hibs we will win many more matches until the end of the season.”