Rabat Ajax 0
Qormi 3
Vella 15; Gabriel 75; Effiong 80;
Qormi are not out of the woods yet but a comfortable victory over wooden-spoonists Rabat Ajax last night will not only raise their morale but also lifts them out of the relegation zone.
Rabat Ajax have gone into a freefall as this defeat leaves them six points behind tenth-placed Vittoriosa Stars with Magpies coach Steve D’Amato particularly under fire for his team’s selection, yesterday.
The Rabat mentor, in fact, sprung a surprise with his starting XI as he opted to confirm the youth side that held Naxxar Lions rather than reverting to his tried-and-trusted troops to contain the Qormi threat with the consequence that Diego Carrillo Pendas, Dylan Falzon and Jonathan Bajada, all returning from suspension, had to settle for a place on the bench.
David Azzopardi, yesterday replacing the suspended Zachary Tanti, provided the only change in the Magpies’ initial XI that took the field for the previous match.
Qormi’s initial formation featured two changes from the 3-2 defeat to Floriana in their previous match last weekend as Roderick Sammut and Simone Quintieri replaced Roderick Bajada and Leighton Grech respectively.
Qormi’s resolve to take maximum points was in abundant evidence when Karel Zeman’s side seized the lead on the quarter of the hour mark.
Alfred Effiong was the architect as he combined speed and power to send in a cross towards the far post where the unmarked Emerson Vella, who had accelerated into the box, prodded past Pavle Velimirovic.
The goal gave Qormi confidence as they began to move the ball around better.
And Velimirovic did well after 22 minutes to push away Effiong’s long-range effort for a corner.
The game entered a lull but Qormi still held control without troubling Rabat beyond routine duty.
The sight of Carrillo Pendas warming up during half-time will have raised spirits among the Rabat fans. Introduced after the break at the expense of Chris Vella, the Spaniard brought some much-needed urgency to Rabat’s game at the start of the second half.
A free-kick by Carrillo Pendas ended high but the game remained a drab with both sides seemingly unable to find some sort of rhythm.
On the hour mark, Wayne Borg, served by Carrillo Pendas, interrupted the boredom with a long-range thunderbolt that flew just over the bar.
Seven minutes later, Duncan Pisani made a timely block on Ryan Micallef after good work by Sorin Oproiescu.
Not to be outshone, on the other side of the pitch, Shawn Gauci put in a vital challenge as Gabriel threatened to increase Qormi’s lead after collecting substitute Leighton Grech’s crossfield ball.
The Ajax’s hopes of saving the match receded when 15 minutes from time, Qormi doubled their lead.
Latching on to a free-kick by Triston Caruana, Gabriel looked certain to score with his first effort but the close-range header was parried by Velimirovic only for the Brazilian striker to plant the re-bound into the net.
It was all Qormi now. And five minutes later, Effiong capped a fine performance by slotting past Velimirovic after he had run through the confused Rabat defence.
Qormi went close to a fourth goal a minute from normal time but Caruana’s curling shot brushed against the Rabat upright.
Rabat Ajax
P. Velimirovic-6, S. Gauci-6, D. Azzopardi-5, P. Borg-5, I. Carapic-5.5, J. Caruana-5.5 (83 D. Falzon), W. Borg-5.5 (64 J. Bajada-5), S. Oproiescu-5.5, M. Licari-5, R. Micallef-5, C. Vella-5 (46 D. Carrillo Pendas-6.5).
Qormi
S. Sultana-6, D. Pisani-6, J. Bondin-6, R. Sammut-6, E. Vella-6, Gabriel-7.5 (90 K. Sciortino), T. Caruana-7, S. Quintieri-5.5, Jorginho-5 (81 G. Gianola), L. Cantoro-5 (62 L. Grech-5), A. Effiong-6.5.
Referee: Glen Tonna.
Yellow cards: J. Caruana, Bondin, Gabriel, Carapic.
BOV Player of the match: Gabriel (Qormi).
Attendances: 580.