Spartans march on thanks to Franklin Sasere hat-trick

Hamrun Spartans made an important statement of intent with regards to their BOV Premier League ambitions as they defeated rivals Valletta 3-0 at the Hibernians Stadium on Wednesday.

Franklin Sasere was the hero for Hamrun as he notched a hat-trick to increase his tally to twelve goals. The Spartans, who had Stefan Sultana leading the team from the bench in the absence of the suspended Mark Buttigieg, stay two points clear of Hibernians. They were clearly a better side right from the start, taking home a well-deserved win.

Valletta, on the other hand, disappointed, hardly testing the Hamrun goalkeeper throughout the ninety minutes. They continue to share the eighth place with Gudja United, fifteen behind the Spartans.

Hamrun took the lead on the 20th minute when Ailton Jorge dos Santos Soares entered the area from the left and served Franklin Sasere who hit home from close range.

The Spartans doubled the score on 64 minutes when Predrag Djordjevic sent Franklin Sasere through and the latter beat Henry Bonello wwith a low shot from the edge of the area.

Nine minutes from time, Hamrun sealed the issue with the third goal when Ailton Soares provided Franklin Sasere who slammed the ball home from close range.

VALLETTA: Henry Bonello, Jonathan Caruana, Santiago Malano, Matteo Piciollo, Kyrian Nwoko, Jean Borg (15′ Ryan Camilleri), Enmy Pena Beltre (25′ Eslit Sala), Rowen Muscat, Leandro Aguirre, Miguel Angel Alba (72′ Triston Caruana), Ryan Fenech (72′ Shaun Dimech).
Subs not used: Yenz Cini, Nicholas Pulis, Ryan Tonna.
Coach: Antonio Jose Cardoso Mendes

HAMRUN Emmanuel Bartolo, Darko Gojkovic, Matthew Guillaumier (85′ Conor Borg),Joseph Mbong (88′ Xylon Portelli), Ailton Jorge Soares (85′ Darren Borg), 17-Franklin Sasere (88′ Michele Laraspata), Blas Andreas Cittadini (61′ Abdullahi Ige Adeshina), Elkin Serrano Valero, Juan Carlos Corbalan, Predrag Djordjevic, Karl Micallef. 
Subs not used: Jonathan Debono, Christopher Galea.
Ass. Coach: Stefan Sultana

Referee: Ishmael Barbara
Assistant Referees: Roberto Vella, Paul Apap
Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann
Yellow Cards: R. Fenech, E. Sala; K. Micallef, M. Guillaumier
BOV Player of the Match:  Franklin Sasere