Mosta 1
Bugeja 75og;
Qormi 2
Effiong 19; Bajada 81 pen;

An excruciating run of four losses and one draw in their last five outings had turned up the heat on Qormi.

They needed a win to resuscitate their flickering Championship Pool hopes but so did Mosta, themselves under pressure after back-to-back defeats had dampened their early-season optimism.

During Mosta’s bright start to the season, their foreign players, especially Brazilians Christian Fernandes and Ricardinho, had earned praise for their positive impact on the team but in Alfred Effiong, Qormi have a proven forward who, on his day, can unnerve any defence in the league.

Mosta had been second best for most of the first half but they were a different lot after the break. Their improved efforts yielded an equaliser but Qormi refused to settle for a draw.

Their bold approach was rewarded when Roderick Bajada converted a penalty, a decision that enraged Mosta who had a couple of penalty appeals of their own turned down.

Leading 2-1 with only 10 minutes remaining, Qormi dug in to hold off Mosta’s late pressure and secure three priceless points which have moved them closer to the teams chasing a top-six berth.

Qormi coach Tommaso Volpi duly restored Roderick Sammut and Triston Caruana to his initial line-up after both recovered from injuries. Christian Terribile was also handed a starting role after his bright cameo in the 2-1 defeat to Balzan.

Qormi’s attacking charge was led by Effiong and Riccardo Innocenti with Leighton Grech on the right as Volpi opted for an attacking 4-1-2-3 formation.

Mosta responded with a 4-2-3-1 approach with Bojan Kaljevic detailed to use his height and strength to put pressure on the Qormi defence while Fernandes, Ricardinho and Manolito Micallef floated behind the Montenegro striker.

Young Italian midfielder Nicola Cosentini made his first start for Mosta as coach Danilo Doncic made two changes from the 2-1 loss to Floriana. Mark Brincat was preferred to Kurt Zammit.

Qormi were first to threaten when Effiong cut into the box from the left but his grounder rolled wide of the far post.

On 15 minutes, Qormi had another good chance to open the scoring.

Grech’s cross from the right was touched on by Innocenti and the ball landed in the path of Terribile whose dipping effort from inside the box was pushed away for a corner by keeper Omar Borg.

The brighter stuff came from Qormi in those initial exchanges. Their efforts were rewarded on 19 minutes when Effiong capitalised on a mistake in the Mosta defence, accelerated into the box and beat Borg with a low shot.

Effiong’s sprightly movement and the constant interchanging by the Qormi forwards was posing endless problems to Mosta who had to wait until the 28th minute to create a glimmer of a chance.

Cosentini’s corner from the right was met by Lukas Duriska but his header flew over the bar.

On the stroke of half-time, Doncic was forced into his first substitution after Duriska limped off with injury. He was replaced by Gian Marko Piccioni who was making his debut for the Blues.

After signalling the end of the first half, the referee booked Tyrone Farrugia for protests as the Mosta players were aggrieved by certain decisions taken by the match official.

Having looked short of fluency and cohesion in the first half, Mosta infused some much-needed urgency into their game.

However, in their first telling attack of the second half, Qormi should have doubled their lead.

The action again stemmed from the elusive feet of Effiong who caught Mosta on the wrong foot before serving Bugeja but his shot brought a fine save from Borg.

Mosta appealed for a penalty when Giuseppe Bellucci’s challenge on Fernandes sent the latter tumbling to the ground but Tonna was unmoved.

With 21 minutes remaining, Mosta’s Ricardinho made headway through the middle before letting fly a rising drive that ricocheted off the top of the crossbar.

The Qormi keeper then saved Tyrone Farrugia’s far-post header from Fernandes’s right-wing corner.

Mosta levelled on 75 minutes. Micallef delivered a cross which Qormi defender Bugeja turned into his own net as he tried to clear.

Three minutes later, Qormi came close to restoring their lead when Innocenti’s cross from the right soared towards the far post but Effiong’s header was stopped by Borg.

Qormi’s optimism grew 10 minutes from time when they were awarded a penalty after Tonna ruled that Borg had upended Federico Santaguida, this after the Mosta keeper looked to have anticipated the Italian forward who had just replaced Grech.

Bajada guided his spot-kick into the net as Borg dived the wrong way.

The flurry of chances continued, Mosta being denied an equaliser by Farrugia who warded off substitute James Brincat’s volley from inside the penalty area.

Doncic flagged his intention to go for broke as he switched to a three-man defence as Mosta’s on-going difficulties to counter Effiong’s runs were evident again in the first minute of stoppage time. This time, the Nigerian once again nipped behind the defenders but his low effort ended wide.

On the cusp of time, Qormi survived an almighty scare.

Bugeja partially cleared Farrugia’s header from Alex Cini’s cross and, from the ensuing scramble, the ball landed at the feet of Fernandes whose shot looked to have beaten Farrugia but Jonathan Bondin was on hand to clear the danger.

Mosta

O. Borg-6, K. Farrugia-5.5 (85 I. Grech), T. Farrugia-5.5, M. Brincat-5.5, A. Cini-6, L. Duriska-5.5 (45 G.M. Piccioni-5), N. Cosentini-5, M. Micallef-5.5, C. Fernandes-6, Ricardinho-6.5, B. Kaljevic-6.5 (82 J. Brincat).

Qormi

M. Farrugia-6.5, R. Sammut-6, G. Bellucci-6.5, O. Bugeja-6.5, J. Bondin-6, T. Caruana-6.5, R. Bajada-6, C. Terribile-5.5 (86 D. Pisani), A. Effiong-7.5, L. Grech-5 (76 F. Santaguida), R. Innocenti-6.5.

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Yellow cards: Caruana; Bajada; Innocenti; T. Farrugia; Borg; Micallef; J. Brincat.

BOV player of the match: Alfred Effiong (Qormi).