Msida St Joseph 3
Levnaic 7; Bartolo 19 pen. Ciantar 40
Ħamrun Spartans 5
Fenech 9; Pereira 39 pen., 43 pen. Spiteri 46; Zammit 77 pen.
A weird combination of sloppy defending and attacking football from Ħamrun Spartans transformed their derby against the relegation-bound Msida St Joseph into a goal feast.
Chasing victory to secure their top-flight status, the Spartans tore into Msida but their flat-out approach played into the hands of their prudent opponents who led three times in an absorbing first half but, on each occasion, Ħamrun hit back immediately to level at three-all before half-time.
A semblance of normality was restored in the second half as the superior Spartans steadied themselves at the back and netted two other goals to lay their relegation spectre to rest. As for Msida, their hopes of avoiding the drop are now as good as nil as Floriana only need a point from their remaining three games to reach safety.
D'Amato's tactical strategy was 4-2-1-3 with Gaetan Spiteri handed a roaming role behind the front trio of Marcelo Pereira, Obinna Obiefule and Ian Zammit.
Beset by the absence of a host of first-choice players, including Kevin Mifsud, Emiliano Lattes and Kalenga Ndayi, Msida coach Keith Gouder picked several youngsters in his starting XI. Miguel Ciantar, who joined Msida on loan from Sliema last January was detailed to lead his team's attacking line on his own.
The Spartans might have taken the lead as early as the fourth minute. Zammit sped forward on the right before crossing for Obiefule whose volley bounced off the turf and flew over the crossbar.
From the possibility of going ahead, the Spartans found themselves a goal down. The Ħamrun defence was caught off guard as Charlie Black's low cross from a corner rolled to Zoran Levnaic whose soft flick had the better of Ivan Casha. This came after seven minutes.
The Spartans didn't take long to equalise, Roderick Fenech glancing Pereira's excellent cross past Manwel Bartolo after Msida had only half-cleared from a corner.
Close to the 15th minute mark, Ħamrun would have doubled their lead but for Adrian Farrugia's block on Lee James Agius's shot.
Ciantar's foray into the Ħamrun box on 18 minutes unsettled Agius who floored the Msida forward. Referee Marco Borg pointed to the spot and Msida goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo quickly ran the length of the pitch to take the penalty, beating Casha with a firm drive.
The game continued to ebb and flow. Bartolo denied Ħamrun an equaliser with a diving save to push away Pereira's dipping effort. All the pressure came from the Spartans now, Bartolo thwarting his opponents again when repelling Zammit's grounder.
Bartolo's one-man show persisted as the Msida goalkeeper, having parried away Spiteri's strike after the latter had been sent through by Pereira, effected two point-blank saves in quick succession. Msida's failure to clear a cross produced an opening for Spiteri who darted past Adrian Farrugia but his near-post attempt was pushed away by Bartolo. The loose ball landed at the feet of Obiefule who looked certain to score but his central effort drew another last-ditch save from Bartolo.
After Fenech's humdinger rattled the crossbar, the Spartans' pressure paid dividends in the shape of a penalty after Matthew Borda shoved Obiefule off the ball seven minutes before half-time. Pereira rifled the ball past Bartolo from the 11-metre mark but straight from the restart, Msida regained their lead, Ciantar once more exposing the Spartans' defensive failings as he burst clear to retrieve a long ball before hitting past Casha.
The avalanche of goals in an amazingly open game kept the fans on the edge of their seats. Hardly three minutes from Ciantar's goal had elapsed when the Spartans levelled matters after being awarded a second penalty.
Assistant referee Ingmar Spiteri raised his flag after spotting a handsball by Adrian Farrugia who tried to clear a Clyde Camoin corner. Pereira made no mistake from the spot to make it 3-3.
The second half was just over a minute old when Ħamrun put their noses in front. Camoin's corner from the right sparked a goalmouth melee, Micallef's close-range attempt was partially blocked and Spiteri stabbed the ball home.
Msida had to wait until the 59th minute to create their first attempt at goal but a shot by Vincenzo Brincat, who had replaced Black in the first half, was saved by Casha.
The rhythm of the game dropped as the clock ticked down. With 17 minutes left, Pereira broke clear on the right but his angled strike was beaten away by Bartolo.
Shortly after, referee Borg whistled the third penalty in Hamrun's favour after Adrian Farrugia appeared to fell Micallef in the box. Zammit drilled his penalty past Bartolo to seal the points.
Msida St Joseph
M. Bartolo-6.5, L. Micallef-4, M. Borda-5, T. Farrugia-4, A. Farrugia-5, Z. Levnaic-6.5, J. D'Amato-5 ('81 L. Agius), A. Spiteri-6.5, B. Borg-5 ('70 L. Saliba-4), C. Black-5 ('28 V. Brincat-4), M. Ciantar-6.5.
Ħamrun Spartans
I. Casha-4, R. Mangion-4, R. Fenech-6.5, M. Micallef-5, L.J. Agius-5 ('57 J. Holland-5), M. Pereira-7, G. Spiteri-6, M. Hrubsa-4, O. Obiefule-5 ('79 M. Barbara), C. Camoin-4 ('51 N. Galea-5.5), I. Zammit-5.
Referee: Marco Borg.
Yellow cards: Spiteri; Ciantar; Borda; L. Micallef; Hrubsa.
BOV player of the match: Marcelo Pereira (Ħamrun Spartans).