Qormi 1 Bello-Osagie 90+4

Birkirkara 1 Nikola Vukanac 38

A late Qormi goal this evening prevented Birkirkara from bridging the gap to league leaders Valletta.

Vukanac broke the deadlock seven minutes from half-time but Qormi   demonstrated their resilience with a last grasp equalise at the Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Birkirkara dominated for long periods and at times, it looked as though an onslaught was on the cards in the second half. However, the Blacks showed tremendous spirit to battle back and with Bello-Osagie looking comfortable on the ball, they took home a deserved point, much to the disappointment of Birkirkara.

Qormi started in bright fashion, thanks mainly to better movement from their forwards and support from the flanks. The scoreboard marked 11 minutes gone when Mathhew Bartolo tested waters with a pulverising shot that ended just over the bar.

It was not before 17 minutes had elapsed that Birkirkara had their first glimpse of Qormi's goal. Camenzuli pounced on a loose ball to fire a low drive that finished just off target.

But Qormi faded badly after that the bright start as Birkirkara gradually worked their way into the game.

In the 26th minute, Mifsud Triganza's header forced Matthew Farrugia to nudge the ball away for a corner .But having failed to heed that earlier warning, Qormi fell behind after 38 minutes.

The modus operandi was always the same as Camenzuli's set-piece cross soared towards the far side of Qormi's box and Vukanac scored with a glancing header in the corner.

Birkirkara's sprightly approach at the start of the second period had Qormi on the ropes. Camenzuli's run on 51 minutes went unchecked by the Blacks as he surged into the box before unleashing a pile driver that required Matthew Farrugia, the Qormi goalkeeper to produce a smart save to push it out.

That turned out to be Farrugia's last contribution as he needed medical attention after the barging into a Birkirkara player to cut out a cross. He was unfit to continue and was replaced by Stev eSultana.

But Qormi upped the tempo with Bello-Osagie roaming to good effect.Sultana's first intervention was to palm away a Jhonnattann free-kick after 68 minutes. Two minutes later, the pressure on Birkirkara mounted as they finished with 10 men after Edward Herrera was shown a straight red card after hauling down Edison Bilboa Zarate.

Chetcuti should have equalised in the 78th minute but he fluffled his chance by opting to pass to Vincenzo Pisani instead of shooting and Alejandro Mendoza-Corujo cleared.

High on confidence, Qormi surged forward and running on to a through-pass from Bello-Osagie, substitute Sebastiano Sirito advanced into the box but the onrushing Birkirkara goalkeeper blocked his effort.

Four minutes later, Gauci denied Qormi again as he leapt to the right to touch away Kris Thackray's swerving free-kick, given for Nikola Vukanac's charge on Bello-Osagie. As Birkirkara were struggling to contain Qormi's late surge, th efourth official's board went up for eight minutes of stoppage times, so it was obvious that Paul Zammit's men were disappointed when four minutes into injury time, when Edison Bilboa Zarate slipped past his marker on the right channel before squaring the ball for Sirito whose shot caressed the underside of the bar and the ball dropped into Bello-Osagie's feet who buried the ball behind Gauci.

More drama and confusion ensued moments later on when referee Marco Borg booked Zarate followed by the red card, only to retract it seconds later after discovering that Argentine midfielder had not been previously booked, triggering the ire of the disappointing Birkirkara fans.