Dominant Spartans climb fourth after thrashing Saints

Trophy by Birkirkara. A match which left some repercussions on the Spartans who for this match had goalkeeper Bartolo missing through suspension and coach Giovanni Tedesco not on the bench for the first match out of the ten imposed on him.

On the other hand the Saints lost two of their last three matches and were also in desperate need of points to climb up the ladder and avoid the red zone. In the first round Ħamrun emerged winner by a solitary goal.

Ħamrun forged ahead on 13 minutes when off a corner from the right the ball was deflected in Wilfred Domoraud’s path whose header found the far corner beating Calleja Cremona.

Moments later a Sebastian Nayar shot from the edge of the area was blocked by Calleja Cremona. And on 26 minutes a Nayar free kick just missed the target with the Saints goalkeeper completely beaten.

Eight minutes from the end of the first half Ħamrun were denied by the woodwork. A fierce shot by Kevin Tulimieri hit the crossbar with goalkeeper Calleja Cremona being on the alert to block before the Spartans forward could convert from the resultant rebound.

St. Andrew’s only effort came on the stroke of half time through a Martin Davis shot which was easy prey for Cini.

Ħamrun started the second half on the offensive and in search of the killer blow. And only six minutes had elapsed when they were awarded a penalty. Magro brought down Domoraud in the area and from the resultant kick Marco Criaco converted.

St. Andrew’s were finding it difficult to break an organized Ħamrun rearguard who can boast of one of the best defences in the league having conceeded just eleven goals in sixteen matches. In fact their reaction never arrived with the Spartans controlling the proceedings with great ease.

They only tried to find a way through long distance conclu- sions which never had the goal in sight. But on 77 minutes Kemar Reid was set free on the right side but his diagonal shot was turned into a corner by Cini.

Ħamrun sealed the issue two minutes from the end when subsitute Ryan Darmanin fired home from just inside the area. A well deserved win by the Spartans who continue climbing up the ladder in search of a place in Europe. Photos: Martin Agius

teams have still to play today. The Spartans had a rather easy match against a below par Saints team who never were in the match.This was the ninth positive result on the trot for Ħamrun in the League since last week they were eliminated from the FA