Hatta get consolation victory

dubai — Hatta got a consolation victory in the final round of the Arabian Gulf League, beating Ajman at the Hamdan bin Rashed Stadium on Saturday night.

Ahmed Khameis came up with a fine solo on 77 minutes as The Hurricanes won by a solitary goal. It was only their fourth win in 22 fixtures this season and they now go into a relegation play-off to see if they can still remain in the UAE top flight.

Hatta go into a four-team playoff tournament from May 9 to 13 from which two teams can still make the cut. The bottom two teams from this season’s Arabian Gulf League will take on Fujairah and Al Hamriyah, who finished third and fourth in the First Division. The top two teams from that tournament will join First Division champions Bani Yas and Ittihad Kalba in the Arabian Gulf League for next season.

Ajman finished eighth in the League with 26 points. Both teams made plenty of forays throughout the game until Ahmed Khameis settled the issue with that fine solo, with 13 minutes left on the clock.

Ajman had the first look at goal on eight minutes but they failed to translate that into a goal.

Hatta came close on 12 minutes when Fernando Gabriel sprinted down the left flank and whipped in an inch perfect cross. But Mohamed Malalla’s header was cleared to safety. There were sorties from either side but the moves were cut off by the stoic backline of both the teams.

Bakary Kone and Azizbek Haydarov made forays for Ajman in the run-up to the halfhour but their efforts were foiled by the Hatta defence. Hatta had an opportunity on 34 minutes through Gabriel but his leftfooted effort was punched away to safety by the Ajman goalkeeper Abdulla Sultan. A minute later, at the other end, Modibo Maiga saw his left-footer go wide of the left post.

james@khaleejtimes.com