Derby triumph for Zebbug with Trebovac header

Zebbug’s best player Tomislav Trebovac headed the winner in the second half to give Zebbug a stunning derby win against Qormi and take sweet revenge for the first round 0-2defeat. It was a surprising but deserved victory for Winston Muscat’s team, especially after their second half performance.

Goal apart Trebovac was again outstanding with his polished football. Dario Tabone and Kurt Zammit, who yesterday wore the captain’s armband, played a blinder for the winners. Qormi without the suspended Michael Camilleri, only came to life late in the game when they were a goal down and with ten men following the sending off of Darko Medic for a very nasty late tackle.

Qormi thus missed a golden opportunity to go on top of the table after Naxxar’s debacle onSaturday, and they now dropped to fourth place, with Mqabba and Lija gaining ground.

Qormi created the first danger after fifteen minutes when tensior Guzman made his way inside thearea but was foiled by a good Azzopardi save.On 25 minutes Zebbug scored through Britto, but this was ruled offside in a disputed decision.

Five minutes from the break Zebbug had a very good move with Trebovac passing to the onrushing Rodrigues Britto whose first timer went over the bar. Just before the break Darko Medic managed to beat a couple of defenders before hitting a low drive that was saved by Julian Azzopardi.

In the opening four minutes of the second half Jamie Azzopardi saved Qormi with two brilliant saves both from Dario Tabone attempts. On 58 minutes Zebbug took a deserved lead when Dario Tabone’s cross from the left was headed home on the far post by Trebovac.

On 68 minutes Qormi were reduced to ten men when Darko Medic was shown a second yellow for a nasty tackle on Mathhew Borda, who in turn had to be substituted.

Qormi pushed forward and almost obtained the equaliser ten minutes from time when an Osmane Sidibe header was cleared off the goal line by Schembri.

Qormi’s last desperate attempts created some anxious moments in front of Julian Azzopardi but Zebbug held on to their lead to the delight of their loyal supporters present in good numbers.

Zebbug R: J.Azzopardi, M. Borda (A. Micallef), K. Zammit (S. Borg), D. Tabone, A. Curmi, T.Trebovac, R. Da Silva Gomes, M. Rodrigues Britto (D. Toure), C. Gauci, C.Psaila, S. Schembri.

Qormi: J. Azzopardi, D. Vukovic, Q. Bregman, A. Abela, O. Sidibe, C. Farrugia (S. Zammit), N. Ojuola (L. Chiedozie), M.Barbara, T. Guzman, D. Medic, B. Grech (I. Zammit).

Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann