Youngsters on mark as rivals share honours

Floriana 1
Valletta 1

Derbies between arch-rivals Floriana and Valletta are laced with tradition. These may still be early days, but the rich history of these two clubs allied with their intense rivalry invariably heighten expectations before encounters between the Greens and the Whites, irrespective of their aspirations for the new season.

Early forecasts have excluded Valletta and to a much lesser extent Floriana, from the band of potential title candidates mainly due to their restricted involvement in the transfer market.

Financial limitations have prompted the administrators of these two glorious clubs to forego their penchant of luring big-name players in favour of young, home-grown talent.

Yesterday, it was two of these house products who stole the show as Floriana winger Trevor Cilia and Antoine Sacco, the Valletta striker, notched the goals in an entertaining 1-1 draw at the National Stadium.

Two foreign players, one on each side, were making their first appearance yesterday. Valletta paraded Ivan Tonchev, their new Bulgarian striker who has been signed to enhance their cutting edge, especially after the club decided to part company with Chris Oretan.

Youngster Kurt Zammit was also handed a starting role on the left of Valletta's backline in the absence of Karl Bonnici who did not even feature among the substitutes.

Andre Rocha Da Silva, a Brazilian midfielder, was making his debut for Floriana after he impressed during a trial.

Floriana started as the brighter side, Daniel Theuma hooking away a goalbound Nicolò Baldacchino strike after an elaborated move involving Malta U-21 internationals Cilia and Shawn Bajada unnerved the City defence.

A distant free-kick by Bajada was then saved by Sean Sullivan.

A power failure forced referee Lorry Sammut to stop the game for some 10 minutes as the lights went out on the National Stadium.

When the game finally resumed, it was Valletta who strove to emerge from their own half in a bid to increase the pressure on their opponents.

The Citizens protested for a penalty when Keith Fenech's cross-shot seemed to have been blocked by Riad-Mynel Gango-Rtsa's stretched hand but the referee saw nothing untoward.

Having earned a reputation as arguably the most effective and fired-up player in derbies between these two rivals, Gilbert Agius was by far Valletta's most lively player in the final third, twisting and turning with the ball to open up the Floriana defence.

Midway into the first half, Agius unleashed a shot on the turn which sailed high. Moments later, Tonchev delivered a fine pass to the advancing Ivan Zammit who in turn served Agius whose first-time rising effort ricocheted off the far post with Matthew Camilleri beaten.

The unexpected hiatus due to the power failure seemed to have had a negative effect on Floriana's early momentum as their forays into the Valletta half became less frequent. Only once did the Greens threaten to take the lead through a Claude Mattocks low drive which ended wide.

The best chance of the game fell to Ivan Zammit who made his way past a posse of players, turned round Camilleri but his low effort whistled across the face of goal and out much to the relief of the Floriana players.

Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza entered the fray at the start of the second half, taking the place of Baldacchino. The young Floriana striker almost made an instant impact on the game with a powerful angled drive that was partially blocked by Sullivan before Theuma cleared the danger.

Bajada's potential for curling dangerous free-kicks was underlined when the young midfielder nearly surprised Sullivan from the distance.

Floriana hit the jackpot on the hour. Gango-Rtsa's intelligent pass saw Cilia eluding the City defence before he rounded Sullivan and hit the back of the net with a strong strike.

Floriana's breakthrough was met with a double-substitution from Atanas Marinov, the City coach, who introduced Antoine Sacco and Milen Penchev, back from a four-week lay-off, for Tonchev and Fenech respectively.

Six minutes later, Valletta nearly restored parity but Penchev's header from a Zammit cross hit the bar.

Yildiz was forced into making a second substitution 20 minutes from time as Da Silva sustained an injury. Sandro Zammit Fava was roped in instead of the new Brazilian midfielder.

Seventeen minutes from the end of normal time, Valletta were back on equal terms thanks to Sacco who headed home an inviting Agius cross.

The Greens may have regained the initiative within seconds of Valletta's equaliser but Bizu's ferocious shot was smothered away by Sullivan. The Valletta goalkeeper then saved an effort by Mifsud Triganza.

Darren Debono and Jonathan Holland, two established players in the Premier League, came on as substitutes late in the game.

But it was Mifsud Triganza who nearly stole the show with a deft run past two City defenders but was just intercepted by Sullivan before he could cause further damage.

Floriana: M. Camilleri, R.M. Gango-Rtsa, C. Ciantar, I. Azzopardi, J.C. Schembri, A. Rocha Da Silva (S. Zammit Fava), T. Cilia, C. Mattocks, E. Do Nascimento, S. Bajada (J. Holland), N. Baldacchino (J.P. Mifsud Triganza).

Valletta: S. Sullivan, T. Simeonov, B. Pace (D. Debono), D. Theuma, K. Farrugia, K. Zammit, J. Bondin, K. Fenech (M. Penchev), I. Zammit, I. Tonchev (A. Sacco), G. Agius.

Referee: Lorry Sammut.

Scorers: Cilia 60; Sacco 73.

Yellow Card: Schembri.

MIA Player of the Match: Ivan Zammit (Valletta).