Ten-man Spartans salvage point

Floriana 1
Hamrun Spartans 1

Floriana and Hamrun Spartans failed to make any inroads into the leading four positions yesterday after their first encounter in the Championship Pool ended one-all.

Having dismissed the spectre of relegation by virtue of their ascent into the top six, Floriana and Hamrun have already achieved their objective this season but yesterday, both were expected to give their all in search of their first victory since the start of the second phase.

Their efforts left much to be desired though as both teams looked bereft of inspiration for long stretches.

Floriana spurned a golden opportunity to leapfrog Old-Firm rivals Sliema Wanderers in the standings as they failed not only to hold and perhaps build on their early lead but suffered the equaliser when they were one man to the good following the red card to Hamrun defender Roderick Fenech.

As for Hamrun, they were shambolic for much of the first half but Fenech's red card cajoled Marco Gerada's men into making a fruitful reaction.

Yala Bolasie was the only notable absentee from Floriana's squad yesterday as the young English winger has a knee injury.

For Hamrun, Alfred Effiong was demoted to the subs' bench while Roderick Fenech, who missed the 4-1 upset to Valletta due to suspension, was back in the thick of things. He stepped in for Serbian Bratislav Timotic who was not in the Spartans' 18-man squad yesterday.

Effiong's attacking duties were handed to Diego Cucciardi who partnered Gaetan Spiteri up front.

Barely a minute from the start of the match had passed when Floriana's Ryan Darmanin found himself clean through but skewed his shot high and wide.

On 12 minutes, distant shouts of 'penalty' were heard from the section housing the Floriana fans after Manolito Micallef went down in the Spartans box during a corner action. Referee Paul Caruana was unmoved.

Moments later, a long free-kick by Darko Krsteski was met by Darmanin in the six-yard box and the Floriana striker laid the ball back for Christian Caruana whose rising volley lacked the power to unnerve Sean Sullivan in the Spartans' goal.

The Greens continued to set the early pace. Precious Monye prevented Floriana from taking the lead when he blocked Christian Cassar's goalbound shot after the Greens captain had been set up by Caruana.

This turned out to be the pre-amble to Floriana's opener which came midway through the first half. Mauro Brincat swung over a looping cross into the danger zone from a free-kick out on the right, Darmanin headed the ball backward and Krsteski was on hand to fire home.

Close to the half-hour mark, Hamrun had the ball in the net through Spiteri but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Gradually, the Spartans increased their attacking forays into the Floriana half as Ryan Fenech and Spiteri combined to create a scoring chance but the latter hit wide from a good position.

Yet, Floriana almost made it 2-0 from another set-piece situation on 39 minutes but Krsteski's swinging drive from a right-wing free-kick brought a fine save from Sullivan.

The Spartans' hopes of getting back on level terms receded seven minutes into the second half after Roderick Fenech was expelled by referee Caruana for lashing out at Brincat in an off-the-ball incident. Floriana were awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty box but Krsteski's swerving thunderbolt was off target.

On 55 minutes, Gerada brought on Effiong for Spiteri who had been sick in the lead-up to the match.

One expected Floriana to move through the gears in a bid to make their numerical advantage count but they lacked the spark and bite to trouble the Spartans' rearguard in which Monye was outstanding.

On 65 minutes, Hamrun fashioned a scoring chance through Ryan Fenech whose first-time volley sailed wide of the far post.

A downward header by Darmanin was deflected away for a corner but 17 minutes from time, Hamrun levelled matters.

A series of short passes between Effiong and Rupert Mangion, one of the best players for Hamrun yesterday, wrought havoc in the Floriana defence. The ball ricocheted back towards Effiong whose flick appeared to take a deflection as it rolled slowly into the net.

Floriana toiled to muster a reaction despite having an extra man on the pitch. Eight minutes from time, the erstwhile subdued Micallef burst into the Hamrun box from the left but he lifted the ball high over the bar.

In stoppage time, Effiong headed across the face of goal after a cross by Steve Meilak.

Floriana: S. Agius-5, M. Micallef-5, S. Eboh-5, D. Krsteski-6, C. Ciantar-5 ('80 O. Bugeja), M. Brincat-6, T. Cilia-5, Z. Levnaic-6.5 ('82 D. Pisani), C. Ca-ssar-6, R. Darmanin-5, C. Caruana-6.

Hamrun: S. Sullivan-6.5, M.A. Bonnici-6, D. Cucciardi-5 ('86 J. Debattista), P. Monye-7.5, K. Borg-5.5, Roderick Fenech, S. Meilak-4.5, Ryan Fenech-5.5, R. Mangion-6.5, G. Spiteri-5 ('55 A. Effiong-5), N. Galea-5.

Referee: Paul Caruana.

Scorers: Krsteski 22; Effiong 73.

Yellow cards: Galea; Borg; Ciantar; Mangion; Bonnici.

Red card: Roderick Fenech (H) 52.

BoV Player of the match: Precious Monye (Hamrun).