BALZAN 2, QORMI 0
Pedro Calcado do Santos scored a dramatic late brace to see off Qormi with a dominant second-half display.
It was rough justice for Qormi who started positively, forcing Matthew Camilleri into a string of smart saves as Ivan Zammit’s side struggled to create chances.
In the second half, Balzan improved but Qormi seemed set for a draw until Pedrinho decided to run a personal show with two wonder goals and seal the victory.
Officials from Macedonia took charge of this match as part of a twinning agreement signed between the Malta FA and their Macedonian counterparts.
Faton Mustafi was referee, Dejan Kostadinov and Andrej Giev his assistants. Dejan Jakimovski completed the line-up of match officials yesterday.
Qormi looked the far more cohesive of the two sides and, with the midfield area congested, made early inroads down the flanks. In the sixth minute, Joseph Chetcuti supplied a teasing cross-cum-shot from the right wing that flew tantalisingly across the face of goal but found no takers.
The match descended into a dour midfield battle with Qormi lumping long balls towards Abubaker Bello-Osagie who had to win aerial battles scrapping for the ball using their strength and power to engineer chances.
That was until the 24th minute; Matthew Camilleri was forced to touch Wellman’s low drive past the post after the ball took a strange bounce on the ground.
The former Vittoriosa defender appeared to have enough energy to bursts down the left with regular bursts. Yet, Qormi were limited to long-range strikes and Jorginho and Jonathan Bondin each put efforts which Camilleri easily put off.
Zammit’s thoughts on Balzan’s first-half performance was reflected in his bold decision to make a double substitution when he replaced Bernardes and David Grima with two strikers Kris Bright and Ciantar.
But this double substitution failed to alter the flow of the contest as Qormi turned up the pressure after the restart and Camilleri had to make another crucial stop to deny Joseph Chetcuti a clear scoring opportunity.
Azzopardi’s side lost their impetus midway the second half. The Youths began to enjoy spells of pressure, Qormi defied them valiantly with some determined blocks and challenges but conceding a number of free-kicks in key areas.
A jinking run by the striker was beaten out irregularly by Roderick Sammut and from the ensuing free-kick with six minutes remaining; Pedrinho struck a shot high into the corner of the net.
And in the closing stages, the Brazilian ensured the Youths – who recorded their second consecutive win – closed the gap on Sliema, the sixth in the table, when he deceived Steve Sultana with a delicate chip after a solo run... a fine goal indeed.