After failing to win any of their last nine matches, Hamrun Spartans finally managed to return to winning ways as they came from behind to beat Sirens 2-1 at the National Stadium on Sunday.
The Spartans, boosted by the debut of new coach Andrea Ciaramella, join Balzan and Mosta in seventh place on 22 points, two behind Birkirkara. Sirens, on the other hand, missed the chance to move to just one point away from the summit and continue to share third place with Hibernians, four points behind Floriana and Valletta.
Sirens forged ahead after just ten minutes thanks to Wellington de Oliveira following a cross by Emmanuel Okoye, beating Manuel Bartolo with a shot from inside the area.
Hamrun, however, levelled matters on the 32nd minute as Clayton Failla’s freekick gave David Cassar no chance.
Four minutes from time, the Spartans notched the winner through Nicola Leone whose powerful shot from inside the area beat the Sirens custodian, ending at the back of the net.
SIRENS David Cassar, Ryan Grech, Wellington de Oliveira, Sergio Raphael dos Anjos, Emmanuel Okoye, Ricardo Silva Faria, Adrian Borg, Abdullahi Ige Adeshina, Flavio Silva Cheveresan, Romeu Pericles Romao (73’ Edward Herrera), Thiago Espindola de Paula.
Subs not used: Miguel Montfort, Luke Grech, Karl Mario Borg, Daniel Sant, Luke Sciberras, Larken Friggieri.
HAMRUN Manuel Bartolo, Conor Borg (51’ Alessio Capitelli), Ailton Jorge dos Santos Soares, Clayton Failla, Nicola Leone, Darren Borg, Karl Micallef, Carlos Flores (63’ Andre Scicluna), Valdo Goncalves Alhinho, Mattia Cinquini, Piotr Branicki (72’ Matthew Gauci).
Subs not used: Jean Claude Debattista, Christopher Galea, Cain Cutajar, Nikolai Micallef.
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Assistant Referees: Jurgen Spiteri, Mitchell Scerri
Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit
Yellow Cards: Ricardinho, Okoye, Cassar, Failla, Soares
BOV Player of the Match: Wellington de Oliveira