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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 11 JANUARY 2015 35 Sport FOOTBALL BASKETBALL EDWARD FALZON Birkirkara .............2 Tarxien Rainbows ...1 AT the Victor Tedesco Stadi- um, Birkirkara kept their posi- tive run as they defeated Tarx- ien 2-1, despite having a player sent off. This defeat leaves the Rainbows in serious relegation trouble, leaving them on just 16 points from 18 matches. Birkirkara had Eliandro re- placing the injured Liliu, while Gareth Sciberras was named in the starting line-up ahead of Edmond Agius. Manuel Xerri, Luke Zahra Carlos Menendez all named in the starting 11. It was Tarxien who tried to go in front and had their first attempt at goal on 13 minutes when a Menendez shot was saved by keeper Haber. Close to the half hour mark, the stripes went ahead when Rafael Ledesma beat keeper Sean Mintoff with a fine ef- fort after receiving from a Paul Fenech corner. Six minutes later, Matheus Blissi was sent off for B'Kara for fouling Menendez as he was on his way on goal. Past the hour mark, Ryan Sammut brought down Elian- dro inside the area with referee Adrian Azzopardi blowing for a penalt y, only for Rafael Ledes- mas' kick from the spot to be saved by Mintoff. On 71 minutes, B'Kara se- cured their three points and doubled the score thanks to Haruna Shola who beat Mintoff from an angled shot. Nine minutes from the end, Firas Aboulezz reduced the gap for Tarxien from an angled fin- ish from the left side. BIRKIRK AR A Justin Haber, Nikola Vukanac (46'Alejandro Mendoza Corujo), Eliandro dos Santos Gonzaga (80' Edward Herrera), Matheus Bissi da Sil- va, Haruna Shola Shodiya, Ra- fael Pompeo Rodrigues Ledes- ma (85' Edmond Agius), Gareth Sciberras, Zach Muscat, Paul Fenech, Ryan Camenzuli, Ryan Scicluna. Subs not used: Ini Etim Akpan, Kurt Zammit, Andrea Curmi, Leighton Grech. Coach: Paul Zammit TARXIEN RAINBOWS Sean Mintoff, Manuel Caruana, Owen Bugeja, Triston Caruana, Firas Aboulezz, Ryan Sammut (74' Ni- gel Vella II), Carlos Menendez Hevia, Luke Zahra, Alex Cini, Manuel Xerri (80' Kane Farru- gia), Matthew Tabone. Subs not used: Jonathan Debono, Steve Sadowski, Nigel Vella, Silas Caruana, Matthew Cassar. Coach: Clive Mizzi Referee: Adrian Azzopardi Assistant Referees: Paul Apap, Sammy Attard Additional Assistant Referees: Mario Apap, Glen Tonna Fourth Official: William De- battista Yellow Cards: Vukanac, Hevia, T. Caruana Red Cards: 33' Matheus Bissi Scorers: 27' Rafael Ledesma BOV Player of the Match: Ra- fael Ledesma EDWARD FALZON Qormi ....................... 1 Mosta ....................... 3 QORMI suffered a fourth con- secutive defeat, at the hands of Mosta, with the blues returning to winning ways after their defeat last weekend. Qormi have now gone nine matches without a win, now almost certain to be playing in the relegation pool. With this win, Mosta are now sixth on 23 points. From their last outing, Mosta made six changes to their line-up with Rodriguez Ekani, Ian Zam- mit, Yannick Ossok, Gary Roberts and Pinheiro De Souza all includ- ed. Qormi were the first to create a scoring opportunity but had to wait until 31 minutes when a shot by Alfred Effiong scraped past the right post. Three minutes later Mosta went ahead when new sign- ing Ian Zammit served De Souza who placed the ball into the net af- ter anticipating the Qormi keeper. In the second half Mosta went close to making it two when from a direct free kick taken by Dos San- tos saw the ball hitting the upright. Only four minutes later, Qormi's Farrugia blocked another Mosta effort this time by Ribeiro. On 71 minutes Mosta went two up when after being served by Ribeiro, De Souza had no difficulty putting past Farrugia Qormi pulled a goal back ten minutes before the end thanks to a direct free kick by Mazzetti. A couple minutes later, Mosta ended all hopes Qormi had of drawing the game when from close range, Ekani secured all three points for his side. MOSTA Omar Borg, Jonas Rod- rigues Ekani, Yannick Ossok, Mark Brincat, Dyson Falzon, Ryan Grech, Kurt Magro (90' James Brincat), Gary Roberts, Ian Zammit, Ma- teus Ribeiro dos Santos (81' Karl Pulo), Diogo Pinheiro de Sousa (88' Zachary Brincat). Subs not used: Kyle Gerada, Dex- ter Xuereb, Ishmael Grech, Aaron Sammut. Coach: Peter Smith QORMI Matthew Farrugia, Bjorn Bondin (83' Pietro Viggiani), Mau- ricio Matias Mazzetti Latini, Joseph Chetcuti (66' Alessio Cas- sar), Alfred Effiong, Clifford Gau- ci, Frank Temile, Ryan Micallef, Emerson Vella, Zoran Levnajic, Jonathan Bondin. Subs not used: Jurgen Cilia, Rod- erick Sammut, Carmelo Farrugia, Steve Agius, Joshua Barbara. Coach: Josef Mansueto Referee: Clayton Pisani Assistant Referees: Ingmar Spi- teri, David Castillo Fourth Official: Philip Farrugia Yellow Cards: Chetcuti, Mateus Ribeiro, Falzon, Borg, Ossok, B. Bondin Scorers: 34' Ian Zammit, 71' Diogo Pinheiro de Sousa, 80'Mauricio Matias Mazzetti Latini, 82' Jonas Rodriguez Ekani BOV Player of the Match: Diogo Pinheiro de Sousa Birkirkara add more misery to sinking Rainbows Qormi lose again YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Balzan and Floriana battle for fourth place Depleted Lions face league crushers Hibernians BOV Female Player of the Month – December 2014 BALZAN and Floriana will contin- ue their battle to consolidate their place in the top four when the two face each other today. Balzan have performed beyond their expectations so far this sea- son and a series of positive results has led them to fourth in the table, losing only four times in their 17 matches played. The match is a must win for both teams in their pursuit for a top four finish. A win for Balzan will see them go four points above Floriana, while a victory for the greens will mean Floriana move above Balzan in fourth place. Both teams are coming from very convincing results and while they will surely be wishing for a differ- ent opposition today, both sets of teams will be geared up for an ex- pected entertaining encounter. Floriana appear to have gotten over their rocky start to the season and are now on a three match un- beaten run, with their last defeat coming early in December against rivals Valletta. Floriana have been very efficient in their recent out- ings particularly in attack, thrash- ing both Zebbug and Naxxar by an identical 4-1 scoreline. Balzan come into this game off a 5-0 thrashing of Tarxien, after previously seeing off Mosta 1-0. Balzan's vastly improved form this season is a ref lection of a positive summer transfer campaign, and a win over Floriana will be a strong confirmation that their current po- sition in the table is no f luke. It is unlikely however that Bal- zan will get something out of this match, with my prediction favour- ing the greens for a 2-1 win. Both teams have no suspended players for the match. NAXXAR find themselves in the middle of a negative run having lost three of their last four matches and Coach Jesmond Zerafa will surely not be very enthusiastic about the prospect of facing league run away leaders Hibernians. Zerafa has so far failed to turn Naxxar's fortunes around, even prompting him to release all for- eign players signed during the summer with the exception of star player Gilmar. The undefeated Paolites already look like champions in waiting with their 16th win last weekend, having seen them drop just two points all along this season against struggling neighbours Tarxien. With Andrew Cohen and Clayton Failla maintaining their high level, today could very well prove to be a difficult day for the Lions. To make matters worse, Naxxar have been severely hit by suspensions and will be lacking Albert Bruce, Daren Fal- zon and keeper Julian Azzopardi for their tough match today. Despite falling behind against Zebbug last weekend, don't expect that to count for much as the qual- ity Hibernians possess should be enough to see them come out com- fortable winners. Balzan Vs Floriana (2pm, National Stadium, Ta' Qali) Naxxar Vs Hibernians (4pm, National Stadium, Ta' Qali) Birkirkara's Alishia Sultana wins last award of the year BIRKIRKARA'S Alishia Sultana is the BOV Fe- male Player of the Month for December 2014 The 17 year old striker is an asset in coach Jo- hann Scicluna's strategy with her spot-on goal striking abilities and her altruistic style of play and excellent team work. Her five goals in eight matches this season, one of them against Sliema in December were crucial for Birkirkara to remain on maximum points this season at the top of the BOV Women's League. Bernard Azzopardi, manager of Bank of Val- letta's Birkirkara branch presented the BOV Fe- male Player of the Month trophy for December 2014 to Alishia.