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29 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 NOVEMBER 2018 St Andrews pile more misery on Balzan Tarxien Rainbows in second victory WARREN ZAMMIT TARXIEN Rainbows secured their sec- ond win yesterday in a row as they reg- istered a 2-1 win over Senglea Athletic. The first match at the Centenary sta- dium was a clash between Senglea and Tarxien. Both sides were coming from a positive result in their previous matches. Following a series of defeats, Senglea se- cured their first win against St Andrews. On the other hand, Tarxien overcame Qormi. This match was a must win for Senglea in order to start climbing up the table. On the other hand, Tarxien needed the three points so that they consolidate their place in the Premier League as early as possible. Senglea started well and threatened Tarxien after two minutes. Braian Alexis Volpini's cross went into the path of Ma- nuel Guillari whose effort sailed slightly over. The Rainbows hit back and broke the deadlock on the 8th minute. Matthew Brincat's effort from a free-kick was di- rected goalward by Daniel Zerafa. The ball bounced off Ferdinando Salvati of Senglea and ended up inside the net. Vincenzo Potenza's side nearly equal- ised on the 16th minute. Guillari hit a powerful shot from the left that stamped off the woodwork. The rebound went into the path of Romani Tcanturia whose shot forced a great save from Andrea Cassar. Tarxien doubled their advantage two minutes later. Marko Ivanovic floored Michele Paolucci inside the penalty area and the referee pointed towards the spot. Paolucci stepped up to take the spot kick and converted. Senglea tried to hit back and created a promising opportunity on the 25th min- ute. Leighton Grech served Matias Gar- cia inside the penalty area and the latter fired a shot that failed to hit the target. Seconds later, Nilsson's dangerous shot from inside the penalty went off target. On the 38th minute, Volpini drilled a shot from the edge of the penalty area that sailed wide. Despite Senglea's efforts, Tarxien re- mained organised in the remaining min- utes as the first half ended 2-0 in favour of the Rainbows. Tarxien went close to add another goal six minutes into the second half. Brincat hit a low shot that that went centimetres off target. However, Senglea pulled one back on the 57th minute. Following a cross by Leighton Grech, Volpini slotted the ball inside the net. Jose` Borg's men replied on the 65th minute. Nilsson went through on the left side and sent a close range shot that was pushed away by Matthew Farrugia. Paolucci threatened Senglea again on the 69th minute. The Italian forward re- ceived the ball from Nilsson, went inside the penalty area, and hit a shot that took a deflection off a defender and ended up marginally wide. Senglea's efforts to equalise suffered a setback as they were reduced to ten men on the 81st minute. Volpini commit- ted a dangerous foul on Andre` Charles Sciculna and the referee showed him a straight red card. This made life easier for Tarxien as they held on to take home another three important points. Senglea Athletic starting line-up: Matthew Farrugia, Matthew Bartolo, Marko Ivanovic, Ferdinando Salvati, Leighton Grech, Manuel Guillari, Braian Alexis Volpini, Benac Imanol Gonzalez, Zachary Cassar, Matias Nicolas Garcia, Romani Tcanturia Tarxien Rainbows starting line-up: Andrea Cassar, Radu Rogac, Daniel Zer- afa, Matthew Brincat, Michele Paolucci, Gabriel Aquilina, Darren Falzon, Andre` Charles Scicluna, Stefan Radovanovic, Anderson De Barros, Alexander Nilsson Referee: Etienne Mangion Assistant Referees: Christopher Fran- calanza, Thomas Debono Fourth Official: Daniel Portelli BOV Player of the Match: Michele Paolucci (Tarxien) Senglea Athletic Tarxien Rainbows 1 2 PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOMINIC BORG SPORTS PREMIER LEAGUE PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTINE BORG BALZAN yesterday suf- fered another setback as they were defeated by St Andrews 2-0. St Andrews scored the opening goal of the match on the 14th min- ute. Andrija Majdevac handled the ball inside the penalty area and the referee signalled for a penalty. Kevaun Atkin- son stepped up and con- verted. Johann Scicluna's men doubled their advantage one minute from half- time. Steve Sultana failed to completely neutral- ise a cross from Martin Davis. Atkinson took hold of the rebound and placed the ball inside the net. Balzan starting line- up: Steve Sultana, Elkin Serrano Valero, Mi- chael Johnson, Justin Grioli, Harry Ascroft, Ricardo Calixto Correa Duarte, Milos Lepovic, Alex Da Paixao Alves, Andrija Majdevac, Uros Ljubomirac, Alfred Ef- fiong St Andrews starting line-up: Matthew Calleja Cremona, Adrian Borg, Ricardo Martin, Martin Davis, Travis Blagrove, Amoy Brown, Kevyn McFarlane, Joseph Far- rugia, Alex Satariano, Kevaun Atkinson, Aidan Jake Friggieri Referee: Emanuel Grech Assistant Referees: Paul Apap, Mitchell Scerri Fourth Official: Fyo- dor Zammit BOV Player of the Match: Martin Davis (St Andrews)