Bolton too strong for Floriana

Floriana 1
Bolton Wanderers 5

Bolton Wanderers yesterday proved too strong for Floriana as the English Premier League side cruised to a comfortable 5-1 victory to finish on top of the Summer Triangular Tournament 2003 with maximum spoils from two outings.

The English outfit were a cut above the Greens with new signing Stelios Giannakopoulos running the show in midfield. Floriana tried to match their opponents but they were let down by some poor defending.

Bolton were determined to make a much better impression than last Sunday's 2-1 win over Birkirkara and they took only four minutes to break the deadlock when Henrik Pedersen beat Camilleri with a close range header.

Denis Cauchi, who was making his final appearance for the Greens, almost capped a perfect farewell match with a goal on 10 minutes but his header from a Trevor Cilia corner-kick skimmed just wide.

Cauchi's short appearance came to an end on 13 minutes when he received a standing ovation from a packed Hibs Ground after being replaced by Ryad-Mynel Gango Rtsa.

It was 2-0 on 24 minutes when Delroy Facey nodded down Pedersen's cross to Giannakopoulos who hammered the ball home.

Bizu should have pulled one back for Floriana on 33 minutes when he beat the offside trap but shot wide of Kevin Poole's goal.

On the restart, Floriana coach Ziya Yildiz gave Brazilian midfielder Andre Rocha Da Silva his first appearance for Floriana after his arrival in Malta on Wednesday.

Facey hit Bolton's third on 50 minutes when he profitted from a poor Clifton Ciantar clearance to plant the ball past substitute goalkeeper Reuben Gauci.

Facey was again on the mark three minutes later when he found the net with a curling shot that gave Gauci no chance.

Floriana did pull one back on the hour when they were awarded a penalty. Jean Paul Mifsud Triganza was floored in the area by Ivan Campo and the resultant spotkick was duly converted by Bizu.

However, Bolton had the final say when Ibrahim Ba hit goal number five two minutes from time.

Floriana: M. Camilleri, D. Cauchi, C. Ciantar, S. Wellman, S. Zammit Fava, I. Azzopardi, T. Cilia, C. Mattocks, E. Do Nascimento, J. Holland, N. Baldacchino.

Subs used: R. Gango Rtsa (13); R. Gauci (45); J.C. Schembri (45), J.P. Mifsud Triganza (45); Andre Rocha Da Silva (45); A. Busuttil (61); J. Briffa (65).

Bolton: K. Poole, A. Barness, S. Charlton, I. Campo, B. Ngotty, F. Laville, S. Giannakopoulos, G. Farrelly, H. Pedersen, J.J. Okocha, D. Facey.

Subs used: K. Nolan (45), I. Ba (45); K. Davies (56), P. Frandsen (58); J. Smith (61); J. Walters (63).

Referee: Adrian Casha.

Scorers: Pedersen 4; Giannakopoulos 24th; Facey 50, 53; Do Nascimento 61 pen; Ba 88.

Final standings: Bolton Wanderers 6; Birkirkara 1; Floriana 1.