Darmanin hat-trick boosts Floriana

Floriana 4
Darmanin 19, 43, 81; Zlydarev 83
Msida St Joseph 2
T. Farrugia 12; Lattes 88

The Relegation Pool has yet to kick off officially but for Floriana and Msida St Joseph, the grim fight against the dreaded drop started off yesterday.

Victory was a must for either team as Floriana needed the three points to extend their lead over Msida while the latter were desperate to win to narrow the deficit on the Greens and the Spartans.

A hard-fought and cagey encounter was defined by a well-taken hat-trick from Floriana striker Ryan Darmanin as the Greens made the Saints pay for their all-out attacking approach.

Msida enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the second half but Floriana hit-them-on-the-counter policy paid rich dividends as the Greens struck twice in the final 10 minutes to put their opponents to the sword.

Thanks to this win, Floriana will start the Relegation Pool trek with a significant eight-point advantage over Msida whose hopes of evading the drop now look very remote.

Russian Stefan Lijsekic was the only foreigner in Floriana's starting XI as fellow countryman Victor Zlydarev again started on the subs' bench and Argentine midfielder Pablo Doffo was serving a one-match ban.

Zoran Popovic's options were weakened by the injury-related absences of Marlon Briffa, Clifton Ciantar, Luke Agius, Christian Cassar and Sunday Eboh.

Msida coach Keith Gouder had no selection problems. His gameplan was attack-minded as the likes of Miguel Ciantar, Emiliano Lattes and Kevin Mifsud were encouraged to push forward in support of Kalenga Ndayi.

Just over three minutes had elapsed when Bernard Paris had to deal with a tricky cross-shot from Ndayi. The Floriana keeper did well to push the ball over the bar.

On 11 minutes, Paris fisted away Miguel Ciantar's free-kick from the distance but barely a minute later, the Floriana keeper could do nothing to prevent Msida seizing the lead. The Reds were awarded a free-kick outside the box after Brian Said pushed Ndayi. Tyrone Farrugia stepped up for the free-kick and his thunderbolt whistled past the diving Paris and into the far corner of the net.

Floriana looked stunned but hauled themselves back in contention when Darmanin headed home from Sacha Borg's corner to tie the score at 1-1 after 19 minutes.

The mutual need of these two struggling teams to collect maximum spoils manifested itself in a series of unorthodox tackles that produced a series of yellow cards.

Scoring chances were rare, however. Seven minutes from half-time, Caruana was first to a loose ball on the edge of the box but his shot flashed wide.

At the other end, Zoran Levnaic was gifted an opening when Ndayi's throw-in was deflected into his path but the former Floriana midfielder fired over. Msida paid dearly for that miss as a minute later, Floriana went ahead.

Darmanin pounced on Matthew Borda's underhit backpass, advanced and beat Bartolo with a rasping drive.

The second half was only two minutes old when Levnaic retrieved possession deep in Floriana's half before unleashing a powerful shot that bounced wide of the far post.

Msida stormed into Floriana at the start of the second period. Having tipped Ndayi's acrobatic effort away for a corner, Paris denied Msida again when repelling Tyrone Farrugia's half-volley from Adrian Farrugia's cross.

Floriana hardly had a glimpse of Bartolo's goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half but, from an isolated breakaway, Darmanin almost applied the killer blow. He cut in from the left and fashioned a rising shot finishing inside the side-rigging.

Gouder pushed Tyrone Farrugia upfield while Levnaic dropped back to defence. Floriana's response was to get more men behind the ball and leave Darmanin as a lone striker.

Popovic's strategy paid off as, with nine minutes remaining, Floriana hit a third goal.

Latching on to a Clyde Borg long pass, Darmanin outpaced Borda and stroked the ball past Bartolo.

His hat-trick complete, Darmanin made way for Zlydarev who made an instant impact. Caruana made headway on the right before crossing for the unmarked Russian who flicked the ball home.

Two minutes from time, Lattes pulled one back for Msida when he surprised Paris with a well-hit chip from the edge of the box.

In stoppage time, Zlydarev marred his evening when he was sent off for a second booking.

Floriana: B. Paris-7, J. Briffa-6, O. Anonam-6.5, J. Borg-6, J. Brincat-5 ('72 S. Grima), S. Lijeskic-4, B. Said-6, S. Borg-5.5, M. Spiteri-5 ('59 C. Borg-6), C. Caruana-6.5, R. Darmanin-8.5 ('82 V. Zlydarev).

Msida St Joseph: M. Bartolo-5, A. Farrugia-6.5, M. Borda-5, T. Farrugia-6.5, R. Baldacchino-5, Z. Levnaic-6 ('89 I. Curmi), L. Micallef-4 ('67 A. Spiteri-5.5), K. Mifsud-6, M. Ciantar-5 ('79 A. Formosa), E. Lattes-4, K. Ndayi-5.5.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Yellow cards: Bartolo; Lijsekic; Micallef; Caruana; Levnaic; Mifsud; Borg; Spiteri; Zlydarev, T. Farrugia.

Red card: Zlydarev (F) 90.

BoV player of the match: Ryan Darmanin (Floriana).