Ħamrun Spartans 2
Ribeiro 77; Grima 87;
Mosta 2
Aboulezz 10; Obiefule 45 pen;

The tussle to avoid the drop is turning out to be a close affair this season with all six teams in the Relegation Pool now enclosed in just six points.

Yesterday, Stephen D’Amato’s Mosta was on course to collect three precious points but they blew a 2-0 lead as the battling Ħamrun fought back to rescue a point with a fine second-half showing.

The inclusion of Steve Bonnici at the expense of Rupert Mangion enabled coach Stefan Sultana to switch Massimo Grima to his favoured midfield position as Bonnici partnered Ronnie Hartvig in defence.

Ħamrun’s 4-2-3-1 formation featured Ribeiro Anderson Mendes as the attacking fulcrum in front of Gaetan Spiteri, Kevin Sammut and Dene Shields.

D’Amato, back on the bench after serving suspension, was able to field his strongest back four after Yannick Ossok and Federico Tisbi returned to the fold from suspension and the two were paired together in the centre.

Gilbert Martin also made the starting line-up to play in the hole between midfield and Obinna Obiefule, the main striker in a 4-1-4-1 module.

This shape worked well for Mosta with the wide midfielders – Firas Aboulezz and Sheldon Grech – drifting inside from the wings as Ħamrun’s Grima and Daniel Zerafa were outplayed in the opening stages.

In fact, after 10 minutes Kurt Magro’s cross found Aboulezz whose low shot on the turn rolled past goalkeeper Omar Borg.

That early goal gave the Spartans no option but to reshuffle their pack and chase the game as slowly they started to show their attacking intent.

Kevin Sammut and Spiteri were now causing all sorts of problems to the Mosta defence, running at them ruthlessly with terrifying pace.

Having seen Matthew Gauci’s piledriver tipped over the bar, the Reds came agonisingly close to level on 26 minutes when Shields directed a header towards goal but keeper Jonathan Debono denied him with a top-drawer save.

After 39 minutes, Calabretta surged down the right and fed Sammut whose shot from a tight angle was well saved by Debono.

The fact that Ħamrun had to come out of their shell to put pressure on Mosta, meant they were always going to be more susceptible to the pace of the Blues midfield as the space in front of the Reds’ defence increased.

Just before half-time, Grech’s free-kick seemed to be within Borg’s reach but the ball spun off the keeper’s gloves and Spiteri gave away a penalty in his bid to stop Predrag Mirceta from scoring.

From the spot-kick, Obiefule sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to make it 2-0 just before half-time.

The Spartans came out firing on all cylinders in the second period.

Sammut’s cross fell to the unmarked Zerafa but the youngster blasted over with only Debono to beat.

After 55 minutes, Grima’s free-kick hit the wall, the ball rolled into the path of Hartvig whose shot from just outside the box finished wide.

Ħamrun’s play was gathering momentum, strongly epitomised by Ribeiro’s stunning finish that flew past by the diving Debono after being set up by Sammut 13 minutes from time.

D’Amato took strong action to halt the sway in fortunes. Before Ribeiro’s goal he sent on Jonathan Bajada and then Dyson Falzon who was making a comeback from injury. However, Mosta had already gone into decline by then.

The Reds had a penalty shout turned down when Grima’s shot was diverted away for a corner three minutes from time. Sammut directed the flag-kick to the far post where Grima raced in unmarked to head home the equaliser.

As Ħamrun looked a completely different lot, D’Amato’s side held on for their point with Debono keeping out Shields’s close-range effort at the death.

Hamrun Spartans
O. Borg-5, G. Calabretta-5.5 (85 L. Agius), M. Gauci-6, R. Hartvig-5, M. Grima-7, S. Bonnici-6, D. Zerafa-5, G. Spiteri-5.5 (67 R. Spiteri-6), D. Shields-6.5, K. Sammut-6.5, A. Ribeiro-6.5.

Mosta
J. Debono-7, A. Borg-5, K. Farrugia-5, Y. Ossok-6.5, F. Tisbi-6, K. Magro-7, P. Mirceta-6, S. Grech-6 (82 D. Falzon), F. Aboulezz-7, O. Obiefule-5.5, G. Martin-6 (75 J. Bajada).

Referee: Chris Lautier.

Yellow cards: Gauci, Shields, Spiteri, Zerafa, Ribeiro, Magro, Calabretta, Agius, Aboulezz.

BOV Player of the match: Firas Aboulezz (Mosta).

Standings

Today (National Stadium)
6 p.m. Birkirkara vs Floriana
8 p.m. Hibernians vs Sliema