RABAT AJAX 0
QORMI 3
Vella 15; Gabriel 75; Effiong 80
A comfortable victory over Rabat Ajax helped Qormi to move out of the relegation zone as the Yellow-Blacks dislodged Vittoriosa from ninth place in the overall table.
Qormi’s resolve to take maximum points was in abundant evidence when Karel Zeman’s side seized the lead on the quarter of the hour mark. Alfred Effiong was the architect as he combined speed and power to send in a cross towards the far post where the unmarked Emerson Vella who accelerated into the box before prodding past Pavle Velimirovic. The goal gave Qormi confidence as the Yellow-Blacks began to pass the ball better. And Velimirovic did well after 22 minutes to push Effiong’s long-range effort for corner.
The game entered a lull as Qormi retained control without troubling Rabat beyond rountine. The sight of Carrillo Pendas warming up during half-time will have raised spirits amongs the Rabat fans. Introduced after at the expense of Chris Vella, the Spaniard brought some much-needed urgency to their game at the start of the second half.
A free-kick by Carrillo Pendas ended high but the game remained drab with both sides seemingly unable to find some sort of rhythm.
On the hour mark, Wayne Borg served by Carrillo Pendas interrupted the boredom with a long-range thunderbolt that flew just over the bar.
Seven minutes later, Duncan Pisani made a timely block on Ryan Micallef after good work by Sorin Oproiescu. Not to be outshone, on the other side, Shawn Gauci put in a vital challenge as Gabriel threatened to increase Qormi’s lead after collecting substitute Leighton Grech’s crossfield ball.
The Ajax’s hopes of staging a comeback receded when 15 minutes from time, Qormi doubled their lead. Latching onto a free-kick by Triston Caruana, Gabriel looked certain to score but his close-range header was brevely smothered way by Velimirovic only for the Brazilian striker to put the rebound into the net.
It was all Qormi now. And five minutes later, Effiong capped a fine performance by slotting past Velimirovic after he had run through the confused Rabat defence. Qormi went close to a fourth goal a minute from time when Caruana’s curling shot brushed the side-netting.