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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2016 49 Sports FOOTBALL RUGBY Leicester go five points clear at top Kavallieri too strong for Falcons SUBSTITUTE Leonardo Ulloa scored in the final minute of nor- mal time to put surprise leaders Leicester five points clear at the top of table with a 1-0 win over Norwich. Leicester extended their lead at the top - at least for now - to five points, before Spurs play Swan- sea and Arsenal Face Manchester United today. Following their crushing stop- page time defeat at Arsenal, the Foxes were, according to manager Claudio Ranieri, "ready for the fight" but for most of the match seemed curiously becalmed as Norwich had the best opportuni- ties. Leicester were so out of sorts, it took almost an hour for top scorer Jamie Vardy to have a shot, and Norwich seemed the side most likely to score. Nevertheless, a last minute goal from substitute Ulloa, sliding in at the back post. Elsewhere, Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic struck late goals to earn reigning champions Chelsea a 2-1 victory at South- ampton. Shane Long took advantage of a mistake by Baba Rahman to put the hosts ahead just before half- time, pouncing on the ball before beating Thibaut Courtois with a neat finish. Chelsea struggled to create clearcut chances before Fabregas equalised after 75 minutes when the Spanish midfielder's hope- ful cross deceived Southampton keeper Fraser Forster and sneaked in at the far post. It was the first goal the Saints had conceded in seven league games and Chelsea grabbed the winner one minute from time thanks to a powerful header from Ivanovic. Aston Villa's slim hopes of avoid- ing relegation suffered another blow as Marko Arnautovic's brace gave Stoke a deserved victory while West Ham boosted their top four aspirations with a narrow 1-0 win over struggling Sunderland. Michail Antonio's first-half goal proved the difference as the Ham- mers extended their unbeaten home run to 13 games. Watford and Bournemouth both missed good chances as their contest at Vicarage Road finished goalless. Hornets' striker Odion Ighalo had the best of those opportuni- ties when his header from eight yards sailed over the bar. The Cherries went close through Max Gradel, who made his first appearance since a ligament injury in August. In the late fixture, Saido Bera- hino's first goal since October gave West Brom a 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace. The Baggies forward, who apol- ogised on Friday for his strike threat earlier in the season, scored a cushioned volley from Stephane Sessegnon's pass. That put the hosts in charge af- ter Craig Gardner tucked in a re- bound and Craig Dawson's header. Connor Wickham scored twice to make it a nervy ending but Palace's winless league run now stretches to 10 games. KAVALLIERI ........... 27 FALCONS ............... 14 MIKE TURNER KAVALLIERI avenged their re- cent defeat by Falcons in the Med- iterranean Bank Cup but it was a very close run thing and had Fal- cons not forgotten how to tackle in the second quarter it might eas- ily have gone the other way. Early territorial pressure from Kavallieri and a huge push from the tight scrum enabled them to grab an early lead with a penalty by Zahra, 3-0. From the start, the Falcons spread the ball wide with long passes and tap penalties which is a good policy for creating exciting running rugby and they are never frightened to try inside flick pass- es. They were very unlucky not to score after a slicing break and kick ahead by Galea with the ball cru- elly bouncing out of his reach as he dived to score. Zammit of Kavallieri earned a yellow card sinbin for a clumsy high tackle and the game swung territorially in Falcons' favour. However when Zammit returned Falcons faded into the same weird lack of confidence that ruined their game against Stompers last week and conceded three tries through weak tackles and defen- sive confusion. Kavallieri took advantage by just running hard at them until they either broke through or dragged the defence into the centre to leave overlaps wide. Only one try was converted, but despite an- other good attack by Falcons, they turned at half time behind by 20 points. If they had continued we could have expected another huge loss, but the half time talk seemed to focus their minds and winning a penalty from the kick off, it was tapped by Galea who ran through to score under the posts and con- vert – 7- 20. Kavallieri were launching attacks but the Falcons defence was now holding in the face of the attacks. Falcons full back Zarb launched several penetrating runs and the support was well organised. After a good attack by Kavallieri petered out with poor passing, Falcons were awarded another penalty, Galea tapped again, ran, kicked ahead, gathered and scored under the posts, converting to bring the score back to 14-20. However Degabrielle earned himself a yellow card sinbin and Kavallieri were able to take the initiative again, launching a series of attacks based on their superior- ity in the tight scrums and finally drove over for a try converted by Zahra, to make their lead more comfortable at 27-14. Falcons did not help themselves by indulging in passing behind their line in- stead of kicking clear. A final hard running attack by Falcons was foiled by the veteran Debierre as he kicked the ball dead. On the whole this was a very enjoyable match to watch and Falcons' policy of using the whole width of the pitch at every oppor- tunity created much running and passing. Kavallieri had a huge ad- vantage in the tight scrums which can often grind down an oppo- nent. For Kavallieri, Debierre, Tonna, and the front row of Zammit, De- sira and Galdes shone, and Fal- cons' Galea, Zarb, Borg, Vella and Freeman deserve a mention, in providing a good game to watch. Veteran referee Mr Hewer helped the game flow well. In the other Men's Game, Swieqi Overseas dominated Gladiators to an 84-0 win. Substitute Leonardo Ulloa celebrates his 89th-minute winner against Norwich as his goal ensured Leicester stretched their lead at the top