PEMBROKE 1
Falzon 7

HAMRUN SPARTANS 0

Pembroke registered their first win since November 5 as they shocked their much-fancied opponents Hamrun 1-0.

Pembroke could not have hoped for a more fruitful take-off when they went ahead inside the first seven minutes. A free-kick by Zoran Levnaic from the right was headed by Raphael Kooh Sohna into the path of ex-Hamrun striker Daren Falzon whose strike from point-blank had the better of David Cassar, the Spartans goalkeeper.

Hamrun’s reaction was timid with Brandon Paiber coming closest to scoring when he hit inches wide of the foot of the upright on a quick break.

Still, Pembroke were the more dangerous going forward and Falzon’s curling free-kick sailed towards the low corner of the goal, but a fully-stretched Cassar managed to keep the ball out.

Things got worse for Hamrun just before half-time. Kooh Sohna’s foul on Luke Sciberras sparked a minor commotion and Jorginho was shown a straight red for elbowing Stevan Racic in the face.

Yet the pattern did not change much as the second half got underway.

Pembroke sensed that they could steer their ship into safer waters while Hamrun started betraying signs of mental weariness despite a couple of runs by Manolito Micallef and Nanapere.

The hard-running Kooh Sohna was constantly releasing himself from midfield and on 68 minutes he popped up just inside the box to receive a long ball from Racic but his shot finished just wide.

Hamrun looked out for the count. Jake Grech summed up his team’s downbeat when his tame free-kick was easily saved by Matthew Calleja Cremona, the Athleta goalkeeper.

There was some drama late on as goalkeeper Cassar went up for a corner, leaving his goal unattended. Asani Djeljilj belted the ball forward for Falzon. The striker managed a shot but Cassar recovered his position and blocked his effort.