FLORIANA 2
Venancio 56
Fonseca 59
STA LUCIA 1
A. Magri Overend 90
Two quick-fire goals in the space of three second half minutes were enough for Floriana to tame a battling Sta Lucia side and preserve their top status in the BOV Premier League standings.
Initially, it looked as though the Greens were set for a challenging afternoon as for much of the first half the Saints had shown the better football and only lack of composure in front of goal had denied them a breakthrough.
But things change completely after the break, as Floriana finally found their touch and Argentine striker Tiago Fonseca first procured the free-kick from which Diego Venancio put his team ahead before finishing things off with a brilliant second to seal the points for his team.
The win ensured Floriana retained their three-point lead at the top of the standings and mathematically ascertained that they finish the first round on top with just one game to go.
Enzo Potenza, the Floriana coach, welcomed back in the fray winger Brandon Paiber who skipped the goalless draw against Ħamrun Spartans due to suspension.
Sta Lucia on the other hand retained the same XI players that stunned Sliema Wanderers in the FA Trophy last week.
Floriana as expected made all the early running but it was Sta Lucia who almost broke the stalemate after five minutes when Rei Tachikawa picked up a short rebound and hit a low drive that was well saved by goalkeeper Ini Akpan.
The Saints were gradually growing in confidence as the pace and power of their attacking trio Tachikawa, Kevin Ante and Diego Seguro providing constant threat to the Greens defence.
On 12 minutes, Ante came close but his inswinger finished just over.
Floriana finally threatened on 19 minutes when Tiago Fonseca sped into the area, rounded goalkeeper Ryan Caruana but his pass found no takers and Sta Lucia cleared.
Two minutes later, the Sta Lucia no.1 showed good reflexes to keep out Paiber’s firm shot.
After that early flurry of chances, the match continued to be played at a high tempo but still scoring chances started to dry up as both sets of players were showing signs of nervousness with several rash challenges forcing the referee to book five players in the first 45 minutes.
Floriana started the second half with more purpose and they almost took the lead on 49 minutes. Alex Cini’s throughball played in Matias Garcia whose thumping drive came off the bar.
The Saints failed to heed the alarm bells as Floriana struck in their next attack.
Fonseca won a free-kick on the edge of the area and Diego Venancio hit a thumping drive that flew into the net.
There was more to come from the Premier League leaders as three minutes later they doubled their lead.
Paiber fed Fonseca on the edge of the area and the Argentine hit a brilliant curling drive that flew into the top corner.
Sta Lucia finally threatened ten minutes from time when Camilo Escobar’s cross was met by Omar Elouni who hit the sidenetting.
The Saints did grab a consolation goal in stoppage time when substitute Adam Magri Overend beat Akpan with an angled drive… but that came too little too late to change the final outcome.