Derby delight for smart City

Floriana 0
Valletta 1
Falzon 52

The natives of Valletta are known for their boisterous character. They are passionate about their football team to the extent that the City faithful are widely considered as the best supporters in the local game.

But, the Citizens are also known for their avid interest in carnival and the prospect of a showdown with rivals Floriana on the first day of the 2009 'feast of colour' had raised fears of a low turnout by the fans. Yet, the lure of another epic derby drew a sizeable crowd to the National Stadium and the thousands of City fans were not let down.

Valletta made it a treble of victories over their sporting foes yesterday with a spirited and disciplined performance that went some way towards alleviating the disappointment of their sloppy showing in drawing 0-0 with Qormi on Monday.

Dyson Falzon's goal early in the second half separated the winners from the losers but in reality, Valletta never looked in danger of forfeiting any points from this match as they were superior to a generous but limited Floriana team who lacked the spark to pose any kind of trouble.

Valletta, who had won the reverse fixture 2-1 and, only two weeks ago, beat Floriana on penalties, are back on top of the Premier League, two points ahead of Hibs but the latter have a game in hand.

Paul Zammit responded to his team's spineless display against Qormi with a plethora of changes in his starting line-up.

Captain Gilbert Agius, Luke Dimech, Ian Zammit and Dyson Falzon were handed first-team recalls. Doding Priso was kept out by suspension, Sebastian Monesterolo was sidelined through injury and Paulo Massaro and Josef Mifsud were demoted to the bench.

Floriana coach Antonio Carlos Vieira will have pondered long and hard on his selection as three players, Pablo Doffo, Christian Caruana and Joseph Borg, were suspended and Clyde Camoin failed to recuperate from injury.

Marlon Briffa and Jermain Brincat were drafted into Floriana's team as replacements for Doffo and Camoin.

Four minutes into the game, Floriana goalkeeper Steffen Suessner did well to beat away Edmund Agius's screamer.

The champions continued to call the early shots, Suessner denying them with another tipping save from Gilbert Agius's drive.

It was not before 21 minutes had elapsed that Floriana had their first glimpse of Valletta's goal. Darmanin did well to control a lofted ball with his high before floating a dangerous shot that whizzed just wide.

One expected the game's rhythm to rise by a few notches as the first half gathered momentum but this was not forthcoming with the result that scoring opportunities became less and less frequent.

Three minutes from half-time, Valletta had the best chance to break the ice when Roderick Briffa split the Floriana defence with an excellent through ball but Falzon's effort was short on precision.

The second half was five minutes old when Cleaven Frendo charged clear on the right before serving Zammit whose low shot rolled wide.

It was then Frendo's turn to squander an inviting opportunity when shooting off target but seven minutes into the second half, the Whites put their noses ahead.

Gilbert Agius unpicked the Greens defence with an exquisite swerving cross from the right and Falzon headed past Suessner.

Within minutes, Andrew Hogg, the City goalkeeper, was obliged to deal with an awkward ball as Dimech headed towards his own goal in an attempt to clear a cross for Agius. Hogg proved equal to the task as he dived to his left to turn the ball around the post.

The promise of a spirited Floriana reaction evaporated before it had really manifested itself as the Citizens maintained a firm grip on the proceedings without setting any houses on fire.

When Kenneth Scicluna served Falzon inside the box, the Valletta scorer tried to fashion a first-time volley but he barely made contact with the ball.

Floriana
S. Suessner-7, S. Bonnici-6.5, J. Briffa-6, S. Eboh-7, O. Bugeja-5, J. Brincat-5 ('80 C. Borg), L. Agius-5, O. Anonam-5, M. Briffa-6.5, R. Darmanin-5, P.R. Da Silva-4 ('70 D. Pisani-4).

Valletta
A. Hogg-7, J. Grioli-6, K. Scicluna-6.5, L. Dimech-6.5, S. Bezzina-6, E. Agius-6 ('66 J. Pace-6), R. Briffa-7.5, C. Frendo-6, D. Falzon-7 ('90 D. Grima), G. Agius-6.5, I. Zammit-6.5 ('84 S. Giglio).

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Yellow cards: J. Briffa; Grioli; E. Agius; M. Briffa.

BOV player of the match: Dyson Falzon (Valletta).