Ħamrun Spartans 3
Ribeiro 5, 22 Pen, Grima 27;
Marsaxlokk 1
Caruana 14;
Ħamrun Spartans cruised past bottom side Marsaxlokk in a one-sided encounter at the Tedesco Stadium yesterday to maintain their unbeaten run in the Relegation Pool.
It was a routine victory for the Reds who were all over their opponents right from the outset and bar a minor blip after taking an early lead through Anderson Ribeiro, they never lost grip of the match and could have finished with a more pronounced victory had they been more clinical in front of goal.
In the end it was the three points that mattered most for Ħamrun who leapfrogged Qormi into seventh place. But, more importantly, they have now opened a commanding eight-point lead over second-bottom Mqabba with only three matches left.
Ħamrun coach Stefan Sultana effected three changes to the team that drew 1-1 against Mosta as Glenn Azzopardi replaced the suspended Gianluca Calabretta while Matthew Gauci was in at the expense of David Camilleri. Rupert Mangion was handed a start in midfield ahead of Lee James Agius who was among the substitutes.
Marsaxlokk had defender Jonathan Xerri back but Sunday Eboh and Clive Brincat were only fit to start on the bench.
The match started on a high. A Kevin Sammut grounder was blocked by Marsaxlokk goalkeeper Christian Cassar and, at the other end, Alex Pedrozo forced Omar Borg into a smart save after a fine cross from Trevor Templeman.
The stalemate was soon broken. In fact, on five minutes, Massimo Grima delivered a low ball inside the box and Ribeiro made no mistake from routine distance.
Marsaxlokk had a Jean Paul Farrugia effort pushed to a corner by the alert Borg and a few minutes later the Southerners drew level.
Templeman’s throughball released Gary Caruana who blasted past the keeper to make it one-all.
That goal stunned the Reds but regrouped to regain the lead midway through the half when Ribeiro was upended in the Marsaxlokk box by Jermaine Brincat. Referee Trustan Farrugia Cann pointed to the spot and Ribeiro beat Cassar who could only touch the ball on its way in.
The Spartans extended their lead on 27 minutes when from a Gauci corner, Grima’s header was cleared from over the line by Brincat but the Ħamrun powerhouse was first to the rebound and fired the ball into the net.
After that, the match lost much of its entertaining fare.
Just before half-time Grima almost added his second when he headed goalwards from a corner but his attempt went just wide.
On the restart, Anton Cremona, the Marsaxlokk coach, introduced Clive Brincat but the Spartans remained the more dangerous side.
On 54 minutes Ribeiro launched another quick raid, squared the ball into the path of Mangion whose drive was blocked by Cassar.
The Marsaxlokk goalkeeper again distinguished himself a minute later when he showed some fine reflexes to push away Sammut’s shot before rushing out of his goal to deny the goalbound Ribeiro as Ħamrun continued to dominate.
Marsaxlokk finally threatened on 63 minutes when they were awarded a free-kick but Templeman’s shot was easy prey for Borg.
Fourteen minutes from time, Sultana gave a run-out to Roderick Fenech who was making his first appearance for the Reds since last autumn following a long-term knee injury.
The Spartans twice went close to adding a fourth goal late on but, first, Grima chipped the ball slightly over and then, Ribeiro sped clear of his marker but was denied by the quick-thinking Cassar.
Ħamrun Spartans
O. Borg-6.5, G. Azzopardi-6, M. Gauci-6.5, S. Bonnici-6, R. Hartvig-6, M. Grima-7, D. Zerafa-6.5, R. Mangion-6.5 (76 R. Fenech), A. Ribeiro-7.5, G. Spiteri-6 (80 L. Grech), K. Sammut-7 (82 A. Micallef).
Marsaxlokk
C. Cassar-6.5, S. Borg-5, J. Brincat-5 (46 C. Brincat-5), P. Borg-5, T. Templeman-6, J. Xerri-5, M. Valeriani-5 (65 P. Paris-5), D. Attard-5 (79 L. Agius), G. Caruana-5, J.P. Farrugia-6, A. Pedrozo-6.
Referee: Trustan Farrugia Cann.
Yellow cards: Brincat, Templeman, C. Brincat.
BOV Player of the match: Anderson Ribeiro (Ħamrun Spartans).