Floriana win to keep slim hopes alive

Floriana 3
St George's 0

Floriana kept their remote hopes of earning a place in the Championship Pool alive with a comfortable victory over St George's at the Tedesco Stadium yesterday.

The Greens came into this match needing maximum points to stay in with a shout of making a last-ditch bid for a top-six spot. Their cause was aided by an early goal that paved the way for a deserved Floriana victory.

Ryan Newell's ninth-minute opener took the steam out of a demoralised St George's side who could not cope with the aggressive play of the Floriana players. Their positive approach paid dividends as Floriana succeeded in narrowing the gap on sixth-placed Hibernians to two points, albeit the latter have played a game less.

Having just another match left before the end of the first phase, Floriana know that only the unlikeliest of happenings can save them from playing in the Relegation Pool for a second year running.

Nonetheless, the Greens' victory yesterday could come in handy as it further increased their advantage over the three teams positioned behind them.

Floriana coach Joe Grech was boosted by the return of several first-teamers. Ian Azzopardi and Manolito Micallef were available after serving suspension but only Azzopardi was restored to the starting formation. Micallef started on the bench.

Brazilian forward Wendell Gomes returned to the starting team while Adrian Mifsud and Riad-Mynel Gango-Rtsa were substitutes.

St George's were forced to make two changes from the team that held Msida to a 1-1 draw last week. Clive Brincat and Benoir Fenech were ruled out by suspension. The returning Emanuel Sevasta and Edgar Degabriele were the replacements chosen by coach Marco Gerada.

Floriana could not have had a better start. The St George's defence failed to clear a Christian Cassar free-kick, the ball flew into Newell's path and the Floriana defender scored with a spectacular overhead kick.

That ninth-minute goal stunned the Saints who were finding it hard to settle down. On 23 minutes, they were only rescued by excellent defensive play from centre-back Renato Conceicao. Twice, the Brazilian blocked efforts from Bojan Spasojevic after the Serbian was set up by Trevor Cilia.

St George's first attempt at goal arrived eight minutes from half-time when Alfred Effiong created space for a shot but his effort finished over.

Floriana screamed 'penalty' five minutes from the break when Spasojevic fell inside the box under the challenge of Conceicao but referee Anton Zammit saw nothing untoward.

Effiong pounced on a defensive mix-up in the Floriana penalty area but he failed to control the ball and the chance was lost.

Grech effected his first change at the start of the second half when withdrawing Kurt Formosa for Micallef.

St George's began strongly. Keith Darmanin sent a dangerous low ball into the Floriana box and Lee Grima's fierce drive was ably stopped by Matthew Camilleri.

The Saints now tried to push forward as often as they could. On 57 minutes, Grima tried his luck from the distance but Camilleri was alert to save.

Sensing that his players were finally putting up a decent fight, Gerada roped in new loan signing Antoine Zahra for Darmanin to add more pace to his attack. Floriana's response saw Grech sending on Mifsud for Gomes.

Nineteen minutes from time, Zahra served Lawrence Mizzi who delivered an inviting cross for Heathcliff Schembri but the latter's flick was cleared in two attempts by Camilleri.

However, any hopes St George's had of saving the match were dashed a minute later when, in a swift break, Micallef's clever pass put Cilia through and the Floriana winger slotted past Gatt.

St George's came close to pulling one back on 75 minutes when Effiong raced past his marker but his drive flew wide.

Micallef almost added a third goal for Floriana three minutes later but headed into Gatt's hands from an inviting position.

Three minutes from time, St George's should have reduced the arrears when Effiong was clean through but the Nigerian's shot was kept out by Camilleri.

Floriana added more gloss to their win with a third goal in injury time. The hard-working Spasojevic turned past two opponents and slipped the ball towards the sprinting Cilia who beat Gatt with an exquisite chip.

Floriana: M. Camilleri-7, R. Newell-6.5 ('78 R.M. Gango-Rtsa), D. Pisani-6, I. Azzopardi-7, T. Cilia-7, C. Cassar-5.5, W. Gomes-5 ('68 A. Mifsud-6), B. Spasojevic-6, M. Caruana-6, K. Formosa-5.5 ('46 M. Micallef-6.5), J. Briffa-6.

St George's: A. Gatt-6.5, J. Spiteri-5 L. Grima-6, L. Lagana-5, E. Sevasta-6, L. Mizzi-5.5, R. Conceicao-7, A. Effiong-6, H. Schembri-5 ('81 L. Pace), E. Degabriele-5, K. Darmanin-5.5 ('61 A. Zahra-6).

Referee: Anton Zammit.

Scorers: Newell 9; Cilia 72, 90.

Yellow Cards: Spasojevic; Newell; Lagana; Grima; Sevasta.

BOV Player of the Match: Renato Conceicao (St George's).