Hamrun S 3

Tarxien R 1

Hamrun registered their third consecutive victory beating Tarxien 3-1 with all goals scored in the first half.

The Spartans were in a class of their own yesterday against a demotivated and plucky Tarxien side. This win puts the Spartans in second place one point behind league leaders Mqabba and a point above Qormi and the same Tarxien.

The best of the match came in the first half with Hamrun scoring at will to confirm their clear intentions of going back in the Premier League after only one season.

Hamrun were impressive in the first minutes with the Tarxien defence at sixes and sevens. Steve Meilaq was devastating on the right flank and was instrumental in the Spartans' goals.

After only four minutes Hamrun went ahead when Steve Meilaq made his way inside the area, making full use of Tarxien's gaping holes in defence, and from an acute angle he beat Curmi with a fierce drive.

With Tarxien still rattled, Hamrun scored their second goal six minutes later. Meilaq started the move on the right, Michael Micallef failed to clear and Gaetan Spiteri passed to Meilaq who scored his brace from close range.

Tarxien coach Jesmond Zerafa tried to make some corrections in defence introducing Stefan Farrugia for Michael Micallef. This move paid dividends as the Rainbows started to play better and Darmanin's header was saved by Falzon.

On 23 minutes Tarxien pulled one back when from an Alan Tabone corner-kick, Manuel Caruana rose high to head home with a powerful header. Tarxien pushed forward and an Alan Tabone freekick was well saved by Michael Falzon.

On 28 minutes Hamrun re-established their two goal lead when Meilaq was unstoppable on the right flank and crossed to Stefan Sultana who nipped in and beat Curmi with a grounder. Hamrun could have added a fourth goal just before the break when Stefan Sultana passed to Meilaq whose effort was saved by Curmi

The second was played at a much slower pace with the Spartans full in command and with Tarxien unable to come to grips with their opponents' superiority. Tarxien had an early chance through Ryan Darmanin whose shot was brilliantly saved by Falzon.

However the Spartans were dangerous in their breaks with Gaetan Spiteri and Rupert Mangion missing two glorious chances in front of goal.