Naxxar Lions chalked up their first win of the season when they eased past Qormi 2-1 at the National Stadium.

Brazilian midfielder Gilmar Da Silva Ribeiro was the catalyst behind the Lions victory with two fine strikes midway through the first half.After a balanced start, it was the Lions who forged ahead on 18 minutes.

Gilmar was upended on the edge of the area by Duncan Pisani and from the resultant free-kick, the Brazilian midfielder hit a fine curling drive that flew into the top corner of the net.

Qormi had little time to recover that they found themselves two goals down.

Gilmar again took centre stage when he won possession in midfield and he ably sped past two Qormi defenders before beating Qormi goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia with a fierce drive.Qormi threw a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when defender Roderick Sammut pounced on a poor clearance from the Naxxar defence to hammer the ball past Julian Azzopardi, the Naxxar goalkeeper.

After the interval, one expected Qormi to lay siege to the Lions goal but that failed to materialise and instead it was Naxxar who could have added to their tally when 17 minutes from time Doffo picked Darren Falzon inside the area but the lanky striker headed over.

Naxxar midfielder Gilmar was voted as the BOV Player of the match.