Ħamrun Spartans 1
Camilleri 84 pen;
Sliema Wanderers 2
Faccini 70; Ciantar 79;

Alain Faccini came off the bench to help Sliema Wanderers secure a precious victory over Championship Pool hopefuls Ħamrun Spartans yesterday.

Sliema coach Alfonso Greco brought on Faccini with more than 20 minutes to go in a bid to unlock what had been a balanced encounter that had failed to produce any decent scoring opportunities.

But Faccini changed all that as he turned the match in Sliema’s favour when putting his team ahead with an excellent strike before Miguel Ciantar wrapped up the points with a second nine minutes later.

David Camilleri’s penalty goal came too late for the Spartans who had been reduced to 10 men following Lyubomir Vitanov’s silly dismissal after the Bulgarian picked two yellow cards, both for dissent.

The result lifted the Wanderers to third spot on 19 points while the Spartans remained seventh with 13 points.

Ħamrun coach Stefan Sultana was boosted by the return of midfielder Massimo Grima, back from suspension, while Daniel Zerafa was fit enough to start on the bench.

Young forward Ryan Spiteri, the Spartans’ match-winner in the derby against Qormi, kept his place in the team and started on the right wing.

Sliema, on their part, were forced to make do without Italian midfielder Paltemio Barbetti, who was serving a one-match ban, and injured defender Stefano Bian-ciardi, but striker Ivan Woods recovered from a thigh problem.

The opening exchanges were devoid of scoring opportunities as both teams struggled to produce any fluent football.

The first chance came Sliema’s way on 14 minutes when Mark Scerri tried his luck from the distance but his shot finished wide.

Six minutes later it was the turn of Luigi Ruggiero to have a shot at goal from the distance but his curling drive was blocked by Andrea Cassar, the Ħamrun goalkeeper.

Greco was not happy with his team’s attacking play and on 28 minutes, Ciantar replaced Beppe Muscat as the Sliema mentor looked to add more speed to his team’s manoeuvres.

The scarcity of scoring opportunities continued with the two goalkeepers rarely called into the action.

Three minutes from the break, Woods did well to escape the attentions of his Spartans marker and storm into the penalty area before teeing up team-mate Ruggiero whose shot was blocked by a timely challenge from Roderick Fenech.

After the interval, one hoped that the proceedings would become livelier but the early signs weren’t promising as neither side managed a shot at goal in the first 10 minutes.

On 53 minutes, Sultana withdrew Grima and roped in Zerafa in a bid to add fresh legs to his team’s engine room.

But, Sliema almost forged ahead on 55 minutes when Ariel Laudisi’s corner was not cleared by the Spartans defence and in came Ciantar who saw his shot come off the upright.

At the other end, Terence Vella freed Zerafa whose first-time effort sailed over.

The Spartans threatened again on 62 minutes when Vella moved past his marker but his shot was too central to create any danger to Sliema goalkeeper Henry Bonello.

The Reds’ hopes suffered a blow on 65 minutes when midfielder Vitanov was dismissed after he received a second yellow card for protests.

With a man more on the pitch, Greco introduced Faccini for Laudisi.

The Wanderers’ substitute made an instant impact on the match as two minutes later, he put his team ahead with a fine strike.

Faccini dashed into the area and shrugged off the challenge of Angel Yoshev before curling his shot past Cassar.

Sultana responded by sending on striker Nikolay Bozhov for the tiring Vella.

Thirteen minutes from time, Faccini almost created a second goal for the Wanderers when he used his speed to run past Yoshev before sending a low cross into the path of Ruggiero who fired wide.

The Wanderers all but sealed the points 11 minutes from time when Ruggiero’s cross was only partially cleared by Cassar as the ball fell to Ciantar who blasted home.

Eight minutes from the end, Bozhov came close to pulling one back for Ħamrun when he swept past two defenders but his low drive was touched away by goalkeeper Bonello.

From the resultant corner, Yoshev was upended by Luca Martinelli with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.

David Camilleri stepped up for the kick and hit low past Bonello but the goal came too late for the Spartans to save the match.

Ħamrun Spartans
A. Cassar-6, M. Grima-5 (53 D. Zerafa-6), R. Spiteri-5, T. Vella-5 (72 N. Bozhov), G. Calabretta-5 (75 L. Grech), A. Ivanov-6, R. Fenech-6, L. Vitanov, L. Yoshev-5.5, A. Vergilov-6, D. Camilleri-6.

Sliema Wanderers
H. Bonello-6, A. Muscat-6, L. Martinelli-5, B. Timotic-6.5, M. Scerri-6, L. Ruggiero-7, C. Gatt Baldacchino-6, I. Woods-5, A. Laudisi-6 (68 A. Faccini-7), M. Muchardi-5, B. Muscat-5 (28 M. Ciantar-6.5).

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Yellow cards: Calabretta; Vitanov; Fenech; Martinelli; Timotic; Vergilov.

Red card: Vitanov (ĦS) 65.

BOV player of the match: Luigi Ruggiero (Sliema Wanderers).

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