Ħamrun Spartans 0
Tarxien Rainbows 3
Mayasi 47; Carabott 88, 90;

Tarxien Rainbows secured Premier League football for another season after they saw off a depleted Ħamrun Spartans side with three second-half goals.

This Relegation Pool clash was clearly influenced by events of the day before as Qormi’s victory over Mqabba meant that the three points at stake were of little importance to the Spartans who fielded several youngsters in their line-up, knowing they were sure to have avoided the drop.

On the other hand, the Rainbows needed just a point to drag themselves out of the relegation scrap with one match to spare.

They duly completed the job with a polished display that saw them outplay their opponents for much of the match with best player on field, Jimmy Mayasi, and the young Adrian Carabott grabbing the goals that earned their team a precious win which lifted them above the Spartans on the 27-point mark.

Patrick Curmi, the Tarxien coach had an almost full complement as Justin Grioli and Everton were back in the fray after missing the team’s 2-1 win over Mosta through suspension.

However, midfielder Ricardo Costa failed to recover from a knock and was replaced by Mayasi who flanked Daniel Mariano Bueno up front.

The Spartans elected to omit several first-teamers as goalkeeper Omar Borg, Rupert Mangion and Gaetan Spiteri were all among the substitutes.

Instead, coach Stefan Sultana roped in some interesting youngsters including goalkeeper Andrea Cassar, Glenn Azzopardi, Luke Grech and Daniel Zerafa.

Roderick Fenech skippered the Spartans yesterday.

It was the Rainbows who al-most took the lead after four minutes when Karl Pulo burst through but he was blocked by the onrushing Cassar who deviated the shot to a corner.

The Reds keeper again had to be on the alert on eight minutes to stop Luiz De Castro’s shot from the distance. It was the Rainbows who continued to threaten and on 13 minutes De Castro released Bueno who fired wide with only Cassar to beat.

Cassar then distinguished himself with a fine one-handed save to keep out Carabott’s drive that looked destined to hit the top corner of the net.

Five minutes later Mayasi fumbled a glorious chance to put the Rainbows ahead but the Congolese-born forward incredibly hit wide from a very good position after he was picked up by Orosco Anonam.

As the minutes ticked by, the match lost much of its intensity with scoring chances few and far between.

The Spartans finally threatened a minute into the second half when Matthew Gauci sent a dangerous cross-shot that sailed across goal but found no takers.

Still, it was the Rainbows who took the lead soon after when Mayasi unleashed a powerful drive from outside the area that gave the diving Cassar no chance to save.

That Rainbows breakthrough forced Sultana to effect his first change as he introduced midfielder Rupert Mangion for the tiring Zerafa.

On 64 minutes, Bueno threatened with a long-range shot that flew just wide.

The dearth of scoring opportunities persisted as Tarxien, in particular, seemed satisfied with how the match was unfolding.

Their goalkeeper, Nicky Vella, was called into action 13 minutes from time when substitute Ayrton Micallef combined well with Anderson Ribeiro before releasing Massimo Grima who unleashed a powerful drive that was pushed away by the goalkeeper.

Seven minutes from time, the Rainbows were awarded a central free-kick. Grioli stepped up for the kick but his rasping drive flew just over.

Tarxien made it 2-0 two minutes from time when substitute Mark Tanti released Adrian Carabott who sped through and beat Cassar with a low drive.

In time added on Tarxien netted a third goal.

Carabott exchanged passes with Mayasi before applying the finishing touch to wrap up a comfortable victory for the Rainbows.

Ħamrun Spartans
A. Cassar-6, G. Azzopardi-6, R. Fenech-6.5, S. Bonnici-5, L. Grech-5.5, M. Grima-6, D. Zerafa-5 (55 R. Mangion-6), K. Sammut-5.5 (59 A. Micallef-6), G. Calabretta-6 (66 R. Spiteri-5), M. Gauci-6, A. Ribeiro-5.

Tarxien Rainbows
N. Vella-6, C. Mamo-6, M. Caruana-6 (84 J. Vella), Everton-6, A. Carabott-7.5, J. Mayasi-7.5, K. Pulo-6 (64 M. Tanti), D. Bueno-6, L. De Castro-6, O. Anonam-6, J. Grioli-6.

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Yellow card: Grioli.

BOV Player of the match: Jimmy Mayasi (Tarxien Rainbows).

Standings