TARXIEN RAINBOWS 6 QORMI 1

Tarxien Rainbows hit six goals past bottom-placed Qormi who are now on the brink of relegation.

The catalysts behind the Rainbows’ success was mainly Luke Montebello, the scorer of two goals, Tristan Caruana who rarely put a grating foot wrong and Daniel Zerafa who crowned a solid performance at the back with two goals.

Montebello needed just five minutes to show that he could fill the boots of injured Alex Nilsson, when letting fly a thunderbolt from an angled position that beat Andreas Vella, the Qormi custodian, hands down as the ball arrowed into the top corner.

Qormi’s troubles to deal with Montebello’s swift incursions down the right channel were laid bare again in the tenth minute. The stocky striker surged clear of Alessio Cassar before darting into the box and squaring for Azzopardi who had no mercy for Vella to beat him with a low shot.

Despite being two goals down, Qormi refused to give up and past the half hour mark, they pulled one back when Ryan Micallef’s cross from the left caught the Tarxien defence unawares as the ball rolled into the path of the unguarded Terence Vella who fired into the net.

But six minutes before the break, Daniel Zerafa restored Tarxien’s two-goal cushion with a header from Azzopardi’s corner.

Scerri’s men hit again just after the break. Montebello latched onto a long ball from Triston Caruana and the Tarxien frontman controlled the ball and sent a wonderfully flighted lob over Vella.

The chances continued to flow for the Rainbows as Montebello tested Vella with close-range strikes in quick succession after the hour mark as the striker worked hard to complete his hat-trick.

In the 77th minute, Montebello turned provider putting the overlapping Zerafa through on goal, who hit a low shot but Vella dived at his feet to clutch the ball.

The inevitable fifth goal could only be delayed for the 82nd minute when Frances who scored directly from corner.

The deluge continued as Zerafa got his second five minutes later, with another header this time from Frances’s corner.