Qormi stunned a very poor Birkirkara side yesterday scoring two goals when they were a man short in the second half to move to fourth place in the standings on 20 points, one ahead of the Stripes.

It was a deserved win for Qormi in a match that rarely reached any good level except for a few flashes – including the two goals – from Qormi in the second half.

Birkirkara had to renounce to the services of the injured Rowen Muscat. Instead, coach Zammit included Alan Tabone.

Among the Qormi ranks, missing were striker Daniel Nwoke and goalie Matthew Farrugia, the latter starting the match on the reserves bench.

In the first half, play was boring with neither side showing any clear ideas, although Birkirkara perhaps, had slightly more possession.

The Stripes once again were poor up front and only on one occasion did they seriously threaten the Qormi goal.

At the other end, even Qormi were unimpressive and had only one clear chance – the best in the first half – which they narrowly missed.

Otherwise, the entertainment was completely missing as both defences seemed to be well in command of the situation.

In the second half, the match did not change much until Duff was sent off. But with a man less, Qormi stunned the Stripes scoring two goals in quick succession.

From then on, they were definitely the better team, even if Birkirkara tried hard to get back into the match.

Qormi, however, played with confidence and, with an alert Sultana between the posts, they held on till the end.

Qormi threatened first through Bello Osagie who received a good ball from Sciberras, and then lifted the ball over the onrushing goalie, but wide of the target.

Birkirkara’s first action arrived on 23 minutes when Sultana had to dive to clutch the ball from the air off a Trevor Cilia cross.

On 31 minutes, Paul Fenech forced goalie Sultana into a fine save to corner.

At the other end, from a Chetcuti cross, it was Bello Osagie who saw his fine header just missing the target.

On the 39th minute, in a fast breakaway, Chetcuti elected to shoot weakly wide instead of serving the completely unmarked Osagie.

As the second half started, Fenech set Avila Perez, but the latter’s shot was weak and Sultana could save with ease.

On 54 minutes, Qormi ended in 10 men when Stuart Duff – quite stupidly – removed his jersey in midfield and rushed to the sidelines to wear a new one. Obviously, referee Caruana had no alternative except to show the Qormi player a yellow card – his second – and consequently the red card.

Two minutes later, Qormi surprisingly took the lead with a great goal. Osagie set Pereira da Silva beautifully and the latter hit home a fine rising shot which beat Canovic all ends up.

Qormi added a second in the 71st minute. A fine pass by Bondin saw Jorge Pereira da Silva outpacing Buhagiar to lift the ball over Canovic.

With 10 minutes left for play, Birkirkara also had Leighton Grech sent off for a second booking making it more difficult for his side.

Near the end, Sultana was a protagonist, first saving a Shodija shot, then saving a dangerous cross from Sciberras and alter turning to corner a Fenech effort.

Qormi: S. Sultana, R. Sammut, M. Bartolo, Jos. Chetcuti (Jeff. Chetcuti), S. Duff, L. Sciberras, K. Scicluna, J. Bondin, J. Pereira da Silva (C. Sammut), S. Wellman, A. Bello Osagie (D. Cachia)

Coach: S. Azzopardi.

Birkirkara: A. Canovic, T. Vella (R. Scicluna), R. Pereira (S. Shodija), A. Buhagiar, P. Fenech, T. Cilia, J. Zerafa, D. Perisic, G. Sciberras, M. Avila Perez, A. Tabone (L. Grech).

Coach: P. Zammit.

Referee: P. Caruana

Asst refs: M. Debono, C. Francalanza

4th official: M. Spiteri

Scorers: J. P. da Silva 2

Yellow cards: D. Perisic, A. Tabone, S. Duff, G. Sciberras,

Red card: S. Duff, L. Grech

Player of the match: J. Pereira da Silva

TMI Top 3: 1. J. Pereira da Silva; 2. P. Fenech, 3. B. Osagie.

Attendance: 888