Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/294639
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 APRIL 2014 Sport 49 PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD FOOTBALL SPORTTODAY Qormi sink Naxxar with late goal Floriana defeat nine-man Tarxien Rainbows Naxxar Lions ................ 0 Qormi .......................... 1 QORMI moved a step closer to se- curing their place in the Premier League next season after they de- feated Naxxar Lions 1-0. Qormi just need one point to se- cure their Premier League status from their remaining matches. Qormi took control of the match from the start. Qormi's Jorge Pereira came close to giving his team the lead on the 10th minute. Off a cross by Leighton Grech, Jorge Pereira's header hit the woodwork. On the 27th minute, Qormi again came close to scoring when Jorge Pereira served Joao Gabriel da Silva, but the Qormi midfielder failed to connect with only goalkeeper Julian Azzopardi to beat. The match turned for the worse for Naxxar on the 77th minute when Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro received his second yellow card and was sent off. Qormi came very close to scor- ing on the 89th minute when Lucas Cantoro had his shot hit the cross- bar. Qormi's finally scored the win- ner on the 90th minute. Leighton Grech served Alfred Effiong inside the area and the latter dribbled past goalkeeper Julian Azzopardi before slotting the ball in goal to the joy of the Qormi supporters. NAXXAR LIONS Julian Azzopardi, Raimi Bakare, Victor Bellia, Angus Buhagiar, Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro, Andrew Decesare, Daren Falzon, Thiago Lopes de Souza, David Ale- jandro Reano, Terence Scerri (83' Milan Vignjevic), Filip Stojanovic. Subs not used: Luke Pecorella, Du- ane Bonnici, Ryan Gilmour Cassar, John Debono, Jurgen Debono, Kurt Drago. Coach: Winston Muscat QORMI Matthew Farrugia, Duncan Pisani, Owen Bugeja, Alfred Effiong, Triston Caruana, Giorgio Gianola (42' Roderick Bajada), Jonathan Bon- din, Emerson Vella, Leighton Grech, Jorge Pereira da Silva, Joao Gabriel da Silva (83' Lucas Cantoro). Subs not used: Steve Sultana, Dylan Pirotta, Roderick Sammut, Raffaele Simone Quinteri, Paolo Dandolo. Coach: Karel Zeman Referee: Marco Borg Assistant Referees: Sammy Attard, Thomas Debono Fourth Official: Sandro Spiteri Yellow Cards: R. Bakere, Gabriel, Gilmar, J. Bondin, J. Azzopardi, T. Caruana, L. Grech, A. Decesare Red Cards: 76' Gilmar Da Silva Ribeiro Scorers: 90' Alfred Effiong BOV Player of the Match: Joao Gabriel da Silva Tarxien Rainbows ........ 0 Floriana ...................... 2 FLORIANA returned to winning ways after they defeated Tarxien Rainbows 2-0. With this victory, Floriana are now second in the Relegation Pool with two games re- maining. For Tarxien, this was their second consecutive defeat. Floriana had to wait till the 37th minute before they took the lead thanks to a penalty. Manual Caru- ana fouled Steve Pisani inside the area to have the referee immediately point to the penalty spot and send off the Tarxien captain. From the penalty spot, Gary Muir beat goal- keeper Nicky Vella with his shot. The second half did not start well for Tarxien as they were reduced to nine-men just after eight minutes of play. Lucas Goncalves da Silva was sent off following a tackle on Rod- rigo Felix Aguiar. Floriana had the match under con- trol and they sealed the win on the 80th minute. Igor Coronado served Diogo Pinheiro de Souza and the lat- ter beat goalkeeper Nicky Vella with a shot from close range. TARXIEN RAINBOWS Nicky Vel- la, Carlo Mamo, Manuel Caruana, Fernando Lopes Alcantara (46' Lu- cas Goncalves da Silva), Luca Mar- tinelli (75' Karl Pulo), Demba Toure, Carlos Menendez Hevia (81' Ryan Sammut), Daniel Mariano Bueno, Josef Mifsud, Steve Bonnici, Jorge Santos Silva. Subs not used: Anthony Curmi, Ste- ve Sadowski, Andrew Agius, Miguel Ciantar. Coach: Clive Mizzi FLORIANA Sean Mintoff, Andre Scicluna, Emmanuel Ibok Edet, Ste- ve Pisani (89' Darrell Baldacchino), Igor Coronado, Diogo Pinheiro de Souza, Joseph Borg, Brooke Farrugia (72' Manuel Briffa), Rodrigo Aguiar, Gary Muir, Sacha Borg. Subs not used: Daniel Hanford, Christian Caruana, Jonathan Xerri, Luca Casha, Isaac Galea. Coach: Giovanni Tedesco Referee: Glenn Tonna Assistant Referees: Chris Franca- lanza, Peter Abela Fourth Official: Malcolm Spiteri Yellow Cards: Scicluna, Alcantara, Coronado, Muir, Martinelli, Farru- gia, Edet, Mintoff Red Cards: 37' Manuel Caruana, 53' Lucas Goncalves Scorers: 38' Gary Muir pen, 80'Diogo Pinheiro de Souza BOV Player of the Match: Gary Muir Qormi just need one point from their remaining matches to securing their Premier League status