QORMI 1
VITTORIOSA 2
Vittoriosa returned to winning ways after five defeats in a row when they launched an astonishing second-half comeback to win despite playing for an hour with 10 men.
Qormi appeared to start life after Tommaso Volpi with a routine win when Roderick Bajada put them ahead after 27 minutes and Vittoriosa had Jose Felipe Aguiar dismissed. Instead Vittoriosa scored twice early in the second half to hit back.
Vittoriosa fashioned their first chance just past the quarter-of- hour time. Gilbert Martin’s cross from the left eluded the Qormi defence as the ball fell invitingly to the foraging Jose Filipe Aguiar who turned and shot but his effort was kept out by Matthew Farrugia.
Then, after a passage of scrappy football, the game threw up a potentially defining episode on 27 minutes. A cohesive Qormi move unlocked the Vittoriosa rearguard as Abudulai Isakka raced behind the slow-moving defenders to reach Bajada’s through-ball.
Aguiar, reacting to the impending danger, made a late tackle from behind on the Ghanaian striker. Referee Trustin Farrugia Cann ordered a penalty and duly brandished the red card to dismiss the Portuguese midfielder, leaving the Vittoriosa side down to 10 men for over 60 minutes.
From the ensuing spot kick, Bajada sent the returning Shaun Cini the wrong way.
Spurred by a sense of injustice, Spiteri’s troops roared forward with renewed vigour with the former Mosta Francisco Arriagada Mello replacing Bamba. But Qormi with Effiong and Isakka at the heart of their attacking moves were quick to counter-attack.
In the 40th minute, Giuseppe Bellucci held off Isakka just before he was about to shot home. Few moments later, Cini made a darting run to clear the ball away from the Qormi striker.
After the interval, Vittoriosa took the field with the right frame of mine and equalised seven minutes from the second half. The Southseasiders pass the ball with confidence along the edge fo the penalty until Guerrero put it into the path of Martin. From 20 yards he drilled a low finish beyond Farrugia.
Qormi had no chance to regain their poise. All the confidence was Vittoriosa’s side as Guerrero crossed from the right side and Marcelo Pereira climbed to score with a deft back-heel that squeezed in between the goalkeeper’s arm and the post.
The match remained lively as both teams persevered with their attacking approach. In the 74th minute, Guerrero briefly broke Qormi’s dominance with a solo move but Farrugia blocked his effort into corner. Six minutes from time, Effiong advanced on the left, pulled the ball back for substitute Tristan Caruana who skimmed the crossbar with a swerving shot.