Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/670480
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 APRIL 2016 Sport 50 FOOTBALL Tarxien's Ebiabowei wins a high ball against Pembroke's Manolito Micallef (L) PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD Four-star Tarxien too strong for Pembroke Tarxien Rainbows .......... 4 Pembroke Athleta ......... 0 TARXIEN Rainbows consoli- dated their sixth position with an easy win over Pembroke whose top-f light status is also secure. The Rainbows took the lead on the 25th minute when Argentine forward Claudio Frances headed home from close range after con- necting with Ayrton Azzopardi's cross. Tarxien's dominance paid off when one minute before the break, Frances scored his second with a powerful shot from inside the area. Following the break, Pem- broke's Gustavo Villalobos al- most reduced the deficit but his long-range shot went wide. The third goal arrived on the 66th minute when Frances put Joao Pedro Oliveira Santos through and the Brazilian beat Matthew Farrugia with a cute lob. Eleven minutes from time, Tarxien wrapped up all three points with a fourth goal by the industrious Ayrton Azzopardi, who put the ball past Farrugia with a powerful low shot. PEMBROKE Matthew Farrugia, Obinna Obiefule (68' Gustavo de Paulo da Nobrega E Silva), Manolito Micallef, Tyron Fenech (55' Siraj Eddin Arab), Zoran Levnaic, Alexander Cini, Rennie Tanti (60' Leighton Grech), Gus- tavo Villalobos, Owen Bugeja, Terence Agius, Ariel Laudisi. Subs not used: Matthew Camill- eri, Sunday Eboh, Geoffrey Spi- teri, Kyle O'Brien. Coach: Winston Muscat TARXIEN Andre Cassar, Ebi- abowei Baker, Triston Caruana, Brandon Muscat, Alex Nilsson (46' Luke Montebello), Ayrton Azzopardi (84' Roderick Bajada), Sergio Fernandez Prendes, Alex da Paixao Alves (81' Manuel Caruana), Matthew Tabone, Joao Pedro Oliviera Santos, Claudio Frances. Subs not used: Sean Mintoff, Daniel Zerafa, Ryan Spiteri, John Mintoff. Coach: Jacques Scerri Referee: Stefan Pace Assistant referees: Roberto Vella, Chris Francalanza Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann Yellow Cards: Pedrinho, Prendes, T. Caruana, Lecao Scorers: 25' Claudio Frances, 44' Claudio Francis, 66' Joao Pedro Oliviera Santos, 79' Ayrton Azzo- pardi BOV Player of the Match: Clau- dio Frances Qormi boost survival chances with shock win Saints beat Naxxar to keep survival hopes alive Qormi .............................. 1 Sliema Wanderers ............ 0 BEFORE yesterday's game Qormi were destined for relegation but a surprise victory over Sliema handed them a lifeline. The three points give Qormi a slim chance of forcing a decider for the play-off spot should they man- age to beat St Andrews in the final game of the season and Naxxar lose to Sliema. An early goal by Qormi's talisman defender Noah Ojoula was enough to beat the Blues. Qormi survived an early scare when they were outnumbered in a blistering counterattack but Denni Rocha dos Santos's shot from the edge of the area hit the foot of the upright. Sliema were the most dangerous but Qormi shocked their opponents by taking the lead against the run of play. On the 16th minute, Noah Ola- wole Ojuola's header from close range beat goalkeeper Glenn Zam- mit to give his side a surprise lead. Sliema's wastefulness and Qormi's stubborn defending meant that Qormi took all three points and al- lows the Yellows to live yet another day. QORMI Jean Matthias Vella, Em- erson Vella, Kurt Magro (88' Clint Barbara), Djamel Leeflang, Ales- sio Cassar, Ousmane Sidibe, Noah Olawole Ojuola, Yannick Yankam, Clifford Gauci, Iven Zammit, Go Nagaoka (66' Terence Vella). Subs not used: Miguel Falzon, Josh- ua Barbara, Immy Micallef, Luke Farrugia, Juan Carlos Vieira Pei- xoto. Coach: Johann Scicluna SLIEMA Glenn Zammit, Alex Muscat, Stefano Bianciardi, Aidan Friggieri, Njongo Priso, Marko Pote- zica, Michele Sansone (46' Jean Paul Farrugia), Peter Xuereb, Johann Bezzina (64' Mark Scerri), Denni Rocha dos Santos, Gary Muir. Subs not used: Entonjo Elezaj, Clif- ford Gatt Baldacchino, Kurt Zahra, Benjamin Essel, Luke Dimech. Coach: Alfonso Greco Referee: Matthew De Gabriele Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Peter Abela Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit Yellow Cards: Bianciardi Scorers: 16' Noah Olawole Ojuola BOV Player of the Match: Noah Ola- wole Ojuola Attendance at the Hibernians Sta- dium: 242 St. Andrews ......................3 Naxxar Lions ....................1 ST. Andrews's merited victory against Naxxar put the Saints two points behind the Lions and with one game to go kept their survival hopes alive. The battle between the two sides will now go down to the wire with St Andrews facing last-placed Qormi while Naxxar take on Sliema Wan- derers. The Lions only have themselves to blame for throwing away a golden opportunity to secure their top di- vision status as a point would have been sufficient to put them in the play-off match and condemn their opponents. St Andrews hit the ground run- ning and created two goal scoring opportunities within the first five minutes. Kyrian Nwoko and Lucky Oseghale both went close to open- ing the score but their attempts failed to hit the target. However, the two players quickly made amends with both players combining to put the Saints two goals ahead. After 17 minutes, Nwoko headed home past goalkeeper Alberto Gal- linetta with the Saints midfielder scoring his second on the 25th min- ute from Oseghale's through ball. In a rare Naxxar attack Jose Angel Godar Pereira saw his shot go wide just before half-time. As the game resumed, the saints kept the upper hand and increased their lead on 66 minutes with Os- eghale putting his name on the score sheet. The Nigerian's precise shot into the low corner gave Gallinetta little chance and all but secured the three points for St Andrews. To add salt to their wound, Naxxar were reduced to 10 men on the 90th after Daren Falzon was sent off for a nasty tackle. But the Lions had time to score a consolation goal when they were awarded a penalty after Liam Grech handled the ball inside the penalty area. From 11 metres, Eduardo Vallecil- lo Casado made no mistake but by then Naxxar's hopes to secure their place in the Premier League were long gone. ST. ANDREWS Jake Galea, Enmy Manuel Pena Beltre, Eloy Edu Nkene, Bong Won Che (76' Liam Grech), Jonatan Perez Cuesta, Dale Camilleri (55' Matteo Desira Butti- gieg), Chinatu Francis Onwudinjo, Joseph Farrugia (85' Ryan Sam- mut), Lucky Victor Oseghale, Kyrian Nwoko, Michel Salomon Wisdom. Subs not used: Dorian Bugeja, Nich- olas Bradshaw, Jamie Magri Over- end, Jacob Walker. Assistant Coach: Brian Chetcuti NAXXAR Alberto Gallinetta, An- drew Scicluna, Ryan Grech, Eduar- do Vallecillo Casado, Daren Falzon, Demba Toure (63' Jurgen Debono), Duane Bonnici (31 Mark Fenech), Jose Angel Godar Pereira (63' Al- varo Javier Hungria Rosero), David Fenech, Angus Buhagiar, Ennio Ha- mutenya. Subs not used: Gianluca Abela, Francesco Gauci, Gianluca Grima, Ryan Mercieca. Coach: Clive Mizzi Referee: Alan Mario Sant Assistant Referees: Edward Spiteri, Thomas Debono Fourth Official: Marco Borg Yellow Cards: Vallecillo, Scicluna Red Cards: 90' Daren Falzon Scorers: 17' Kyrian Nwoko, 25' Kyr- ian Nwoko, 66' Lucky Victor Os- eghale, 90+2' Eduardo Vallecillo Casado pen BOV Player of the Match: Lucky Victor Oseghale