Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/655581
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 MARCH 2016 55 Sport FOOTBALL Qormi ....................... 1 Floriana .................... 3 FLORIANA went into the game against Qormi confident of tak- ing all three points home but little did they imagine that the bottom placed side would make life so difficult. After taking the lead within the first 60 seconds, Floriana had to score two late goals to beat Qormi 3-1. The win moved the Greens level with Birkirkara in fourth, who however have a game in hand. Qormi, on the other hand, suf- fered the thirteenth consecutive defeat. Floriana hit the ground run- ning and in one of the fastest goals of the season the Greens took the lead after just 29 sec- onds. The prolific Mario Fon- tanella put the Greens ahead when he headed home past goalkeeper Jean Matthias Vella from a Mauricio Villa cross. On the eighth min- ute, Villa put in a throughball to Nicolas Chiesa who however saw his shot blocked by Vella. The Greens were in control for the rest of the first 45 minutes and Qormi only threatened once when Clifford Gauci 's free-kick was kept out by Floriana's goal- keeper Matthew Grech. However Qormi 's resilience paid off and on the 49th minute they were awarded a penalty af- ter Djamel Leef lang was brought down inside the area by Grech. The Dutch striker made no mistake from 11 metres to de- servedly equalize the score. The bottom placed side went close to taking the lead when a few minutes later, Grech was in full stretch to deny Leef lang. On the 80th minute, Qormi missed a golden opportunity when an unmarked Ryan Mi- callef shot wide from close dis- tance. The longer the game went, the bolder Qormi became but Flo- riana kept their opponents at bay and regained the lead on the 82nd minute when off a cross from the right by Clyde Borg, Filippo Andrea Scozzese headed home past the Qormi goalie. The goal demoralised Qor- mi and five minutes later, the Greens secured all three points with a third goal from Villa who thumped the ball home from close range following a cross by Chiesa. FLORIANA Matthew Grech, Antonio Monticelli (72' Conor Borg ), Enrico Pepe (38'Andre Scicluna), Mauricio Villa, Jun- inho Cabral, Andrea Scozzese, Steve Bonnici, Firas Aboulezz (66' Clyde Borg ), Manuel Brif fa, Nicolas Chiesa, Mario Fonta- nella. Subs not used: Matthew Calleja Cremona, Luke Micallef, Luca Gatt, Daniel Agius. Coach: Luis Oliveira QORMI Jean Matthias Vella, Ryan Micallef, Joshua Barbara (86' Pietro Vig giani), Djamel Leef lang , Alessio Cassar, Ous- mane Sidibe, Noah Olawole Oju- ola, Terence Vella, Clif ford Gau- ci, Emerson Vella, Go Nagaoka (73' Yannick Yankam). Subs not used: Andreas Vella, Clint Barbara, Immy Micallef, Juan Carlos Vieira Peixoto. Coach: Johann Scicluna Referee: Stefan Pace Assistant Referees: Chris Fran- calanza, Sammy Attard Fourth Of ficial: Marco Borg Yellow Cards: M. Grech, Chiesa, E . Vella, J. Barbara, A. Scozzese, R. Micallef Scorers: 1' Mario Fontanella, 49'Djamel Leef lang pen, 82' Andrea Scozzese, 87' Mauricio Villa BOV Player of the Match: Noah Olawole Ojuola Attendance at the Victor Te- desco Stadium: 488 Qormi make Floriana sweat Balzan rescue point in six-goal thriller Sliema Wanderers .. 3 Balzan .................. 3 HIGHFLYING Balzan came back from two goals down to earn a point against Sliema to stay within reach of second- placed Hibernians. The draw puts Balzan two points behind the reigning champions but the biggest victors were Valletta who now enjoy a five-point lead over Balzan with a game in hand. Balzan created the better chances in the first 45 min- utes but it was the Blues who took the lead against the f low of play four minutes from half-time. Jean Paul Farrugia placed the ball at the back of the net off the rebound from Njongo Priso's shot, which was par- tially saved by goalkeeper Christian Cassar. A tense second half pro- duced five goals and a red card for Priso, but the Blues dug in in the final 10 min- utes to hold on to the point as Balzan pressed for a winner. But Balzan's persistence was rewarded when two minutes in the second half they drew matters level thanks to an own goal by substitute Luke Dimech who in a desperate attempt to clear the ball into safety put it instead past his own goalkeeper. Despite the setback, Sliema regained the lead thanks to a fine effort from Farrugia who scored his second goal with a curling shot which gave Cas- sar no chance. A shell-shocked Balzan found themselves two goals down on the 61st minute as Denni 's dipping free-kick, from an acute angle, f lew above a host of players and into the far corner. Three minutes later Balzan revived their hopes, after sub- stitute Aleksandar Vujacic headed the ball home past the Sliema custodian. As the teams were stretched and a host of goal scoring op- portunities were created on both ends of the pitch, Sliema missed a golden opportunity to restore their two-goal lead but Priso hit wide after being set up by Denni. With 12 minutes left, Balzan equalized thanks to Lydon Micallef 's def lected shot after losing his marker in the box. Sliema's troubles increased two minutes later as Priso was sent off after he verbally abused the referee. As the tension grew, the game ended with both sets of players pushing and shoving each other after Denni and Balzan's Justin Grioli were embroiled in a tiff. SLIEMA WANDER ERS Glenn Zammit, Alex Muscat, Mark Scerri, Clif ford Gatt Baldacchino, Peter Xuereb, Johann Bezzina, Stefano Bi- anciardi (46' Luke Dimech), Gary Muir, Njongo Priso, Denni Rocha dos Santos, Jean Paul Farrugia. Subs not used: Entonjo Elezaj, Justin Vella, Haruna Shola Shodiya, Michele Sansone, Omar Elouni, Sebastian Per- domo Esquivel. Coach: Alfonso Greco BALZAN Christian Cassar, Justin Grioli, Paul Fenech, Steve Bezzina, Alfred Ef fiong , Clive Brincat (19' Maxim Focsa), Alan da Silva Souza, Pedro dos Santos Calcado (62' Aleksandar Vujacic), Ly- don Micallef, Elkin Serrano Valero, Dylan Grima (74' Luke Sciberras). Subs not used: Ivan Janjuse- vic, Sean Cipriott, Paul La- pira, Ryan Fenech. Coach: Oliver Spiteri Referee: Fyodor Zammit Assistant Referees: Jurgen Spi- teri, Peter Abela Fourth Of ficial: Mitchell Scer- ri Yellow Cards: Xuereb, Gatt Baldacchino, Muscat, Priso, Focsa, Denni Red Cards: 80' Njongo Priso Scorers: 42' Jean Paul Far- rugia, 47' own goal Luke Di- mech, 54' Jean Paul Farrugia, 61' Denni Rocha dos Santos, 63' Aleksandar Vujacic, 78' Lydon Micallef BOV Player of the Match: Jean Paul Farrugia