Tarxien Rainbows inflict first defeat on Hamrun Spartans

Hamrun Spartans lost their unbeaten record as Tarxien Rainbows registered a 2-1 win at the Victor Tedesco Stadium on Saturday.

Tarxien therefore returned to winning ways after losing to Mosta last week and now stand on the six-point mark. Hamrun, on the other hand, conceded the first goals and suffered their first defeat after collecting seven points from the first three matches in two wins and a draw.

The Spartans had one change from the team which defeated St. Andrews as Carlos Henneberg replaced Caetano Calil. On the other hand, the Rainbows had three changes with Daniel Zerafa, Stefan Radovanovic and Gabriel Aquilina replacing Andrew Agius, Luke Grech and Ricardinho from last week’s defeat to Mosta.

Tarxien forged ahead on the 32nd minute thanks to Gabriel Aquilina whose effort was deflected by a defender past goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo after receiving an assist by Anderson de Barros.

Two minutes from the end of the first half, Hamrun were awarded a penalty after Andrea Cassar was adjudged to have fouled Kevin Tulimieri inside the area and from the penalty spot, Massimo Ganci made no mistake to level matters.

Six minutes from time, Tarxien regained the lead when an Anderson de Barros effort was blocked by a defender but the ball reached Michele Paolucci off the rebound and the Italian striker slammed the ball home.

TARXIEN Andrea Cassar, Jens Wemmer (69′ Matthew Brincat), Radu Rogac, Daniel Zerafa, Michele Paolucci (90′ Matthew Spiteri), Gabriel Aquilina, Daren Falzon, Andre Scicluna (71′ Ricardo Silva Faria), Stefan Radovanovic, Anderson de Barros, Alexander Nilsson.
Subs not used: Maverick Buhagiar, Matthew Brincat, Luke Grech, Miguel Ciantar, Cedric Zahra.
Coach: Jose Borg
Asst. Coach: Saviour Debono Grech

HAMRUN Manuel Bartolo, Antonio Monticelli, Enrico Pepe, Triston Caruana, Sebastian Nayar, Carlos Henneberg, Massimo Ganci (82′ Russell Vella), Matthew Gauci, Njongo Priso, Karl Micallef, Kevin Tulimieri (57′ Bradley Schembri).
Subs not used: Sean Cini, Christopher Galea, Cain Cutajar, Darren Borg, Jeremy Busuttil.
Coach: Giovanni Tedesco

Referee: Alan Mario Sant
Assistant Referees: Edward Spiteri, Theodore Zammit
Fourth Official: Alex Johnson
Yellow Cards: Tulimieri, Nayar, Cassar, De, Henneberg, Monticelli, Nilsson, Ricardinho
BOV Player of the Match: Anderson de Barros
Attendance: 720