Pietà hit back to boost survival bid

Pietà Hotspurs 3
Floriana 1

Two quick goals midway through the second half took Pietà Hotspurs a step closer to Premier League salvation.

The Blues yesterday lowered the colours of Floriana, the first-placed team in the Relegation Pool, in an entertaining match at the Hibs Ground.

It was a deserved win for Carmel Busuttil's lads who recovered from the early setback of a first-minute goal by Wendell Gomes to turn the result in their favour.

The Hotspurs took the game to their opponents and after man-of-the-match Svetlan Kondev put them level after 16 minutes, they always looked the likelier side to score. Their persistence was finally rewarded just past the hour when they struck two goals in quick succession to ease to their second successive win in the Relegation Pool.

More importantly. Pietà have now opened a healthy five-point lead over second-from-bottom St George's with only four matches to go.

In Floriana's case, their defeat yesterday did not jeopardise their salvation bid as they are still top of the Relegation Pool.

However, coach Joe Grech must be concerned with the negative display of his players who seemed to lack the motivation to take anything from the match.

Grech had been forced to make a last-minute change in his starting formation, replacing captain Ian Azzopardi with Ryan Newell.

Striker Adrian Mifsud was out of the equation due to suspension. Serbian Bojan Spasojevic stepped into the nippy striker's shoes yesterday.

Busuttil, the Pietà mentor, was also forced to make changes to the team as David Camenzuli was sidelined through suspension with Rumen Galabov filling his void in defence and Quilin Refalo replacing the Bulgarian up front. Italian midfielder Roberto Provenzano was unavailable.

Floriana hit the ground running, going ahead inside the first minute. Spasojevic did well to evade his marker on the left before sending in a calibrated cross towards Brazilian striker Gomes who easily headed the ball past Pietà goalkeeper Andrew Hogg.

Pietà's response arrived quickly. Three minutes into the game, Domenic Mifsud sped into the Floriana area before serving Kondev who fired the ball over.

In the sixth minute, Matthew Camilleri, the Floriana goalkeeper, dived to his left to block Martin Deanov's curling free-kick.

The Hotspurs' pressure paid off on 16 minutes when from a Deanov short corner, Kondev surprised Camilleri with an audacious cross-shot that sailed into the top corner of the net.

After Pietà's equaliser, the match lost much of its early intensity as neither side imposed itself on the game. Consequently, goalscoring opportunities were few and far between.

It was Pietà who finally threatened on 32 minutes when, from another Deanov corner, the lanky Galabov got to the ball first but his header flew just wide.

Eight minutes from half-time, Hogg did well to tip Spasojevic's dangerous free-kick away for a corner.

Two minutes later, Christian Caruana looked certain to restore Floriana's lead when he chipped the ball over the onrushing Hogg, but Edward Herrera quickly recovered to clear the ball away.

Pietà appeared to have begun the second half on the right note when Galabov nodded Kondev's free-kick towards Deanov only for Newell to erroneously divert the ball into his own goal in an attempt to clear the danger.

Luckily for the Floriana defender the 'goal' was disallowed as the Bulgarian forward was deemed to have been in an offside position.

The Hotspurs kept pushing forward and on 55 minutes Deanov sent another dangerous cross into the area but Refalo failed to connect with the ball from an inviting position.

Two minutes later, Busuttil roped in Dylan Kokavessis in lieu of Silvan Ciscaldi and the Hotspurs substitute soon left his mark.

The clock marked 61 minutes of the game gone when Deanov set off on a blistering run and stormed into the penalty area before sending a low cross towards Kokavessis who slotted the ball past Camilleri.

The Hotspurs were not finished yet as four minutes later, Galabov sent in a dipping cross into the area and Kurt Formosa, in a bid to anticipate Kokavessis, deviated the ball past goalkeeper Camilleri and into the net.

After Pietà's third goal, the match had little else to offer with Floriana trying to force openings in their opponents' defence but the Hotspurs showed great defensive organisation.

Two minutes from time, Newell came close to pulling a goal back for the Greens but his long-range shot was turned away for a corner by the alert Hogg.

Pietà: A. Hogg-6, M. Deanov-7.5 ('89 B. Sciberras), S. Ciscaldi-5.5 ('57 D. Kokavessis-6.5), Q. Refalo-6, C. Pulo-6.5 ('83 D. Goodlip), C. Sammut-6.5, S. Kondev-8, D. Mifsud-6.5, E. Herrera-6.5, R. Camilleri-6.5, R. Galabov-6.5.

Floriana: M. Camilleri-5, K. Formosa-5 ('69 A. Buhagiar-5), D. Pisani-5.5, R. Newell-6, R. Gango-Rtsa-7, C. Caruana-5 ('63 M. Micallef-5), M. Caruana-5.5, C. Cassar-5 ('84 I. Azzopardi), T. Cilia-5, W. Gomes-6, B. Spasojevic-6.

Referee: Anton Zammit.

Scorers: Gomes 1; Kondev 16; Kokavessis 61; Formosa 65 og.

Yellow Cards: Spasojevic; Sammut.

BoV Player of the Match: Svetlan Kondev (Pietà).