Ħamrun Spartans beat Lincoln Red Imps 3-1

Ħamrun Spartans have beaten Lincoln Red Imps FC 3-1 in a dramatic Conference League match. 

This was the first Conference League match won by a Maltese football club after the Spartans beat Latvian RFS last August to qualify in the European championship.

On Thursday, the match, played in Ta' Qali, saw a quiet first half, but the game picked up in the first few minutes of the second half. 

In the 57th minute, Lincoln’s Bernardo Lopes scored the opening goal. A few minutes later, the Gibraltar football club was down to 10 men as Graeme Torilla was handed his second yellow card. 

At the 65th minute, Ħamrun’s Mouad El Fanis scored the equaliser, and nine minutes later, Semir Smajlagic made the score 2-1.

Towards the end of the match, Ħamrun also received a red card as Vincenzo Polito was shown his second yellow card of the game. 

But this wasn’t enough to change the outcome, as Ante Coric scored Ħamrun’s third goal.

The win comes after Ħamrun Spartans suffered three defeats against Jagiellonia, Lausanne-Sport, and Samsunspor.

The Spartans will now face Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk on 11 December in a home match. On 18 December, the Maltese team will play the Irish Shamrock Rovers away.