Leli Fabri in his early days with Qormi FC and the Malta Youths.

When Floriana met relegation-haunted Qormi on April 6, 1974, the Greens were already out of the championship race.

The competition was nearing its end and while Valletta and Hibernians were fighting for the honours and putting daylight between themselves and the rest of the pack, a desperate battle for survival was being fought at the other end of the table.

With only two matches left for the end of the competition, six teams were still involved up to their necks in the relegation mire.

Floriana could not win the championship but they still needed to beat Qormi if they wanted to gain a place in the UEFA Cup the next season.

Qormi, however, needed the points more desperately. Before this game, they were propping up the league table but a victory against Floriana would take them up a few steps to a healthier place in the table.

Therefore, the interest was there but on the day, the game did not live up to expectations. Qormi won a rather shabby game 3-1 but the teams’ performances, especially that of Floriana, left a lot to be desired.

Floriana played below their standards. Passes went astray and no-one really seemed to care about the final result. This, however, did not detract from Qormi’s merits.

The Tigers had an incentive and, although they did not produce any fancy football, they played their hearts out to achieve their goal.

Leli Fabri, then at the start of his long and brilliant career, was Qormi’s hero. He played a great game in midfield and capped a fine performance with a superb hat-trick.

Floriana were easy prey to the first-time tackling and tight marking of their opponents, thus making Qormi’s task easier.

The Greens might have opened the scoring as early as the third minute when a perfect pass from Willie Vassallo put Louis Arpa in an ideal position.

It was a chance Arpa usually lapped up but to the dismay of his supporters, he shot wide. After this promising start, Floriana seemed to put on the brakes.

For the rest of the first half, play was restricted to midfield and neither goalkeeper was seriously tested.

Just before the interval, Floriana were shaken out of their apathy when Hili floated a pass into the box and there was Fabri to drive hard and past goalkeeper Sultana.

Floriana’s expected reaction never materialised, even if, a few minutes later, George Xuereb could have equalised when he shot on the turn only for Mifsud to punch away for a corner.

Seconds later, Qormi scored their second goal. Sultana failed to grab a high ball and it fell to Fabri who headed home.

After the interval, Floriana launched a bombardment on Qormi’s goal. They attacked relentlessly until Arpa finally managed to reduce the deficit. The Greens now went all out to save the game but in doing so, they left their rearguard wide open, allowing Qormi to hit their third goal.

Hili, who was having a fine game in midfield, intercepted a pass and in turn served George Scerri.

The latter centred perfectly for Fabri who drove the ball into the corner of the net.

This goal hit Floriana hard. They gave up, leaving Qormi to hold on their advantage till the final whistle.

Futile victory

It would have been nice to say at this point that after this victory Qormi avoided relegation but at the end, Fabri’s fine hat-trick served for nothing because Qormi went down after losing 1-0 to Birkirkara in a decider.

After this match however, Fabri’s career took a positive twist.

The big clubs chased his signature and he chose Sliema Wanderers with whom he won all the honours Maltese football could offer.