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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 MAY 2015 35 Sport FOOTBALL Valletta tighten grip on second place with win over Balzan Tarxien win but still in a struggle Balzan ...................... 0 Valletta .................... 1 EDWARD FALZON SUBSTITUTE Lateef Elford Al- liyu was the hero for his team, coming on and notching the winner as Valletta ran out 1-0 winners over Balzan. The English striker scored in- to the second half but star man for Valletta was stand in keeper Nicky Vella who, having con- ceded a penalt y, made amends by saving Elkin Serrano's effort from the spot. With this win, Valletta have further strengthened their grip on second place as they are now five points clear of Birkirkara, who face champions Hibernians today. Balzan were missing important players in the form of Bojan Ka- ljevic, Gianmarco Piccioni and Oscar Guerrero, all injured, However this was just Balzan's first defeat after six wins, with Oliver Spiteri 's men securing fourth place and qualification for the Europa League last weekend with a victory over Hiber- nians. Valletta were the better team through the first 45 minutes but failed to open the score despite creating a few goal scoring opportunities. After 16 minutes Valletta threatened to break open the score when Hamza Barry made his way into the Balzan box with speed but his good effort moved against the base of the far post. Balzan maintained their cau- tious approach to the game but managed to create a good move with the tireless Bezzina making his way forward on the left f lank before playing it towards Edison Zarate who in the end lost pos- session of the ball. Three minutes past the half- hour, Nafti had a free kick taken, pushed away by Chris Cassar. At the other end, Dylan Grima shot high after Valletta had failed to clear Justin Grioli 's corner. After a quiet start to the sec- ond half, Jean Pierre Mifsud Tri- ganza ran through the opponents' defence to meet on to Guobadia's delicious pass from the back but the ex international striker was ruled offside. A few moments later Balzan had a great opportunit y to move in front. Zarate sent in a danger- ous cross from the left but Luke Dimech was alert to f lick the ball away from Grima. The loose ball rolled towards the unmarked Mi- callef but his effort had no direc- tion to seriously trouble Vella. Valletta opened the scoring when in trying to meet Briffa's lurking ball into the box, Barry's strike came off the far post with the ball ending at Lateef 's feet who calmly pushed the ball into the net. Balzan issued a reminder of their offensive threat as Grima hit just wide after bursting clear on the right but, 13 minutes from time, the Reds had a golden chance to equalise. Vella gave away a penalt y after he was adjudged to have brought down Guobadia in the box. The Valletta goalkeeper made up for his playing offence as he produced an excellent save to push away Elkin Serrano's pen- alt y kick and to ward off Zarate's follow-on attempt. Balzan; Cassar, Zarate, Grima, Valero, Grioli, Bezzina, Agius (Cipriott 77'), Guobadia, Brin- cat, Darmanin (Triganza 27'), Micallef (Spiteri 72') Valletta; Vella, Caruana, Az- zopardi, Borg , Camilleri (Elford 55'), Fenech (Camilleri 61'), Bar- ry, Brif fa, Bajada (Hilary 80'), Nafti, Dimech Referee: Philip Farrugia Yellow Cards; Brincat, Zarate, Grioli, Cremona BOV Man of the Match: Hamza Barry Zebbug Rangers ........... 0 Tarxien Rainbows ........ 2 EDWARD FALZON DESPITE the three points, the Rainbows are still caught in the rel- egation battle as they hope to avoid the relegation play off spot which they currently occupy. They are now just one point be- hind Mosta who are ninth on 20 points and still yet to play Floriana. On 40 minutes, Monti was un- lucky not to have put his team in front when he hit the crossbar with a header off a cross from Britto. Just one minute before the break, Tarxien opened the score when off a corner kick taken by Aboulezz, the ball fell to the feet of Darling- ton who slid the ball into the net. Tarxien moved further away from their opponents 16 minutes into the second half when off a cross by Soly, Vallecillo played the ball to Darlington who placed the ball behind keeper Bartolo to notch his second of the game and an encour- aging Man of the Match perform- ance. Zebbug; Bartolo, Camilleri, Gauci, Reano, Bartolo, Muchardi, Zam- mit, Monti, Britto, Yussuff, Monte- bello (Ciantar 66') Tarxien; Mintoff, Caruana (Sad- owski 81'), T.Caruana, Aboulezz, Valecillo, Perreira, Cini, Tabone, Solu, Darlington (Vella 89'), Aceve- do Referee: Marco Borg Yellow Cards: Galea, Muchardi BOV Man of the Match: Obinna Darlington Choose category. Fill in the boxes provided. Write in block letters. Your advert will appear for three weeks in both MaltaToday and MaltaToday Wednesday. This offer does not apply to Real Estate agents. Send your form to: MaltaToday Classifieds, Media Today, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016. Together with a €5 cheque payable to MediaToday Co. Ltd. Name: ________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________ Tel: ___________________ email: _________________________________ ANTIQUES BOATS FURNITURE GENERAL LETTING PETS PROPERTY SITUATIONS WANTED SITUATIONS VACANT SERVICE TUITION VEHICLES / PARTS WANTED ALL PRICES INDICATED FOR YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE MUST BE IN EURO €5 1 CLASSIFIED FOR 3 WEEKS = Rio Ferdinand's wife passes away IN a statement, the footballer con- firms Rebecca Ellison, mother to his three children, "passed away peace- fully" on Friday night. The QPR defender has said in a statement: "My soul mate slipped away last night. Rebecca, my won- derful wife, passed away peacefully after a short battle with cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. "She was a fantastic loving moth- er to our three beautiful children. She will be missed as a wife, sister, aunt, daughter and granddaughter. She will live on in our memory, as a guide and inspiration. "Myself, my parents Janice and Julian, along with Rebecca's par- ents Lesley and Stephen, would like to thank our families, friends and my club colleagues who have ral- lied around in these desperate days, weeks and months. "I would also like to express my gratitude for the dedication and ex- pertise of the staff led by Professors Johnstone and Clarke at the Royal Marsden. Their valiant efforts to prolong Rebecca's all-too-short life will not be forgotten. "Our grief, as a family, is total. We would appreciate being allowed to mourn privately." Rio Ferdinand with his wife Rebecca Ellison