Ħamrun Spartans 3
Mawete 16; Pereira 58; Spiteri 81
Dingli Swallows 0
The 2009/10 BOV Premier League is still in its infancy but the first-round skirmish between Ħamrun and Dingli had the feel of a relegation scrap.
The 'promoted' duo - Dingli joined the elite category as Division One champions while Ħamrun were reinstated after the demotion of Marsaxlokk - went into their direct encounter with three points each but come 9.50 p.m. yesterday, Ħamrun had doubled their tally.
As in the previous match, the game produced an early red card, this time after 18 minutes when Dingli's Victor Fiteni was expelled for two bookings, but unlike Hibs, who won despite being reduced to 10 men, the Swallows unravelled.
Joao Batista Mawete, yesterday making his league debut for the Spartans, was the focal point of Ħamrun's attack as Dingli were hampered by the absence of key forward Joseph Okonwko.
The early exchanges produced little goalmouth action but, with 16 minutes of the match gone, the Spartans seized the lead.
Rupert Mangion lofted the ball into the six-yard box from a corner and as the Dingli defence failed to clear, Mawete profited to hammer the ball past Jeffrey Farrugia.
Mawete celebrated his goal with two quick somersaults in front of the jubilant Ħamrun fans. The latter's optimism increased two minutes later when Fiteni got his second yellow card after ploughing into the legs of Pereira.
The platform was in place for the Spartans to tear into their weakened opponents but they took a while to really put Dingli under pressure.
Micallef made his way through but his drive was pushed away by Farrugia. Then, on 35 minutes, Pereira freed Gaetan Spiteri but his attempted chip was deflected away by Farrugia.
A superb move by the Spartans should have yielded a second goal as Mangion touched the ball to Neville Galea who quickly passed to Mawete. The Angola-born forward flicked the ball forward where Pereira had burst past the Dingli defence but was twice denied by Farrugia.
Referee Paul Caruana inflamed the few Dingli fans present at the Tedesco Stadium when he deemed that Aaron Attard's tackle on the advancing Renato Conceicao was legitimate.
The woodwork then came to Dingli's rescue as Spiteri's sweetly-struck drive rattled the crossbar.
Thirteen minutes into the second half, the Spartans doubled their advantage. Mangion engineered the move with an audacious pass from midfield towards Pereira. The Brazilian met Mangion's service with a cute lob that soared into the net.
Ħamrun then protested for a penalty when Pereira's pass appeared to hit Kevin Borg's outstretched hand but the referee saw nothing wrong.
As Dingli descended into a state of confusion, Ħamrun went for the kill.
Mawete headed wide from Galea's cross as proceedings were littered with a series of niggling fouls.
With 14 minutes left, Spiteri delivered a through-ball to Micallef who tried to guide the ball past Farrugia but his wayward effort was cleared.
Dingli had been forced on the backfoot for most of the match but substitute Christopher Azzopardi almost gave them a lifeline. However, his well-hit effort was smothered away by Casha.
The ensuing corner was cleared by Ħamrun who launched a quick raid that saw Pereira pick out the unmarked Spiteri who coolly despatched the ball past Farrugia.
Ħamrun Spartans
I. Casha-6.5, M.A. Bonnici-5 ('44 A. Attard-6), R. Mangion-7, R. Fenech-6, M. Micallef-6 ('84 M. Barbara), N. Galea-6.5, M. Pereira-7.5 ('89 M. Mifsud), G. Spiteri-6.5, M. Hrubsa-6, J.B. Mawete-6.5, J. Holland-6.
Dingli Swallows
J. Farrugia-6, C. Caruana-6 ('71 C. Azzopardi), R. Conceicao-5.5, S. Tellus-5, H. Doda-5, K. Formosa-5, V. Fiteni, C. Muscat-5 ('89 J. Muscat), D. Cachia-5, K. Borg-5, A. Rocha Da Silva-5.5 ('85 R. Spiteri).
Referee: Paul Caruana.
Yellow cards: Fiteni; Conceicao; Bonnici; Fenech; Tellus; Doda.
Red card: Fiteni (DS) 18.
BoV player of the match: Marcelo Pereira (Ħamrun).