Floriana 3 Ħamrun Spartans 1
Ħamrun Spartans were relegated after failing to take any points from their encounter against Floriana.
Ħamrun looked to be in for a hard time against what seemed to be a more adventurous Floriana. And the Greens could not have hoped for a better lift-off, taking the lead after 19 minutes.
Floriana took the lead in bizarre circumstance as Ħamrun goalkeeper Andrea Cassar’s attempted clearance from Igor Coronado, hit the Brazilian striker and the ball flew inside the net for a strange own-goal.
The Reds had a sheepish look about them and their response came six minutes later, the hard-working David Camilleri released Emiliano Lattes but his shot was saved by Debono.
It was not long before they were on level terms. Past the half-hour mark, good work by Glenn Azzopardi had him running through the heart of the Floriana defence before pushing the ball towards the unmarked Grima who buried the ball behind Debono.
Ħamrun whipped up more spirit, even if Floriana kept operating on breaks. Towards the interval, Lattes was on spot to receive a menacing cross by Camilleri but the Argentine’s effort was blocked by Debono.
Udo Nwoko failed to emerge for the second-half and Casha was his replacement. The young striker turned out to be the trump card up Brunskill’s sleeve as he combined with seasoned Trevor Cilia and Coronado to produce an attacking performance of the highest calibre. Ħamrun could do nothing but bow to Floriana’s burgeoning talents.
After 50 minutes, the Spartans defence was unlocked by a neat three-man move, Gary Roberts picked the ball near the halfway line to exchange it with Cilia as Casha ran in to meet a strong cross by the former Sliema player but could only put a desperate touch to the ball before flashing wide.
Four minutes later, Coronado ran the right side of the Ħamrun’s rearguard before playing in Casha who made no mistake this time to hit a diagonal shot at the far post.
Floriana were in no mood let the win slip away, and in another moment of magic that characterised his display, Casha ran through the opponents’ defence with a blistering burst, rounded Blejdon Guga before unleashing a curling low shot into the net for his second competitive goal in his career.
Cilia was in a sprightly form and continued to venture forward at will. In the 75th minute, he was unlucky to skim the bar on a long-distance effort. Ħamrun’s afternoon turned into a nightmare five minutes later when they were reduced to ten men as substitute Roderick Fenech was dismissed by referee Clayton Pisani for bringing down the goalbound Coronado on the edge of the box.
In the dying minutes, Coronado could have crowned his fine performance but his free-kick finish off the far post before scores of faithful Spartans delivered a standing ovation of the dejected Ħamrun players as they left the pitch.