Msida back from the dead to force decider

Msida St Joseph 2
Calcado 90+; T. Farrugia 90+
Tarxien Rainbows 2
Bueno 12, 90

No one could have written a script with a more dramatic ending to that witnessed yesterday afternoon at the Hibs Ground.

With injury time being played, Tarxien Rainbows led 2-0 courtesy of a brace by Daniel Mariano Bueno but Msida reduced the arrears and, seconds later, scored an incredible equaliser to force a relegation decider, likely to be played on Friday, after the two teams finished level on 16 points.

Both sides kicked off rather quietly although it was Tarxien who settled down first. It only took them 12 minutes to forge ahead when Bueno netted a beauty. The Brazilian hitman received a cross from the left from compatriot Denni Rocha Dos Santos, chested the ball down and let fly past Matthew Camilleri's near post.

Msida's reaction was weak. They looked edgy on the ball and despite Pedro Calcado's constant promptings, they failed to seriously trouble Anthony Curmi in Tarxien's goal.

The Rainbows continued to be the more concentrated and committed side and were also sharper in their tackles.

Msida lost Marcos Aurelio in the 32nd minute when he injured himself while shooting from outside the Tarxien area.

He was replaced by Mark Camilleri.

Msida were handed a lifeline five minutes before the break. In a rare attack, one of Msida's better players, Andre Rocha Da Silva, ran past three defenders before being brought down by goalkeeper Curmi. Referee Adrian Azzopardi had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Curmi made amends for his rash challenge, which had also earned him a yellow card, by diving to his right to save Calcado's spotkick.

At the start of the second half, Msida came out looking for an early equaliser but Curmi saved Tyrone Farrugia's header from an Adrian Farrugia free-kick. Tarxien were determined to protect their slender lead but were defending too deep. However, as time went by, Msida looked to be getting more desperate and were often erratic in their passing.

Calcado tried to compensate for his earlier miss and tested Curmi with shots in the 57th and 65th minutes but the latter saved easily.

In an attempt to change the course of the match, Msida coach Joe Abdilla introduced defender Stacey Vella in the 65th minute instead of Kurt Magro. This allowed Kevin Mifsud to take a midfield role as the stocky Farrugia moved up front to try and unsettle the Tarxien defence.

However, it was Tarxien who almost doubled the score. David Camilleri, who was in charge of all Tarxien's deadball opportunities, took a free-kick on the right but the ball hit the crossbar in the 66th minute.

At the other end, from a corner, Farrugia hit a shot on the turn which Curmi saved in two attempts.

Bueno then headed into the side-netting from a Camilleri corner.

Msida came close to an equaliser when Farrugia headed narrowly wide from a Calcado free-kick seven minutes from time. But then, things took a turn for the worse for Msida when defender Kenneth Spiteri was shown a straight red card for a foul on Bueno.

Tarxien's Luke Vella Critien saw his lob sail over the crossbar but this was the prelude to their second goal which came at the end of normal time. Substitute Mark Tanti passed to Bueno who dribbled past a defender before shooting into an empty net for his 23rd goal of the season.

From the resumption of play, the ball came to Calcado who let fly a shot from 25 metres which beat Curmi. 2-1.

Suddenly Msida had a new resolve about them. They knew theirs was a desperate case and somehow they kicked the ball upfield.

The Tarxien defenders failed to clear and Tyrone Farrugia slipped through to a hit a diagonal shot which rolled past Curmi to spark unbelievable scenes of joy among the Msida supporters.

After the goal, Msida keeper Camilleri was sent off for ungentlemanly conduct during his team's celebrations but his dismissal had no effect on the outcome. Msida thus live to fight another day!

Msida St Joseph
M. Camilleri, D. Cachia-6, S. Grima-5.5, K. Spiteri, T. Farrugia-7.5, K. Mifsud-6, A. Da Silva-7, K. Magro-6.5 ('65 S. Vella-5), P. Calcado-7, M. Aurelio-6 ('34 M. Camilleri-5), A. Farrugia 5.5 ('90 M. Mulholland).

Tarxien Rainbows
A. Curmi-7, S. Sadowski-5.5, M. Caruana-6, C. Gatt Baldacchino-6.5, E. De Lima-6.5, A. Decesare-6 ('58 M. Tanti-5.5), R. Schembri-5.5, D. M. Bueno-7.5, L. Vella Critien 6 ('90 O. Grech), D. Rocha Dos Santos-7 ('74 W. Chircop), D. Camilleri-7.5.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Missed penalty: Calcado (M) 41

Yellow cards: Caruana; Curmi; Rocha Dos Santos; Farrugia; Vella Critien; Mifsud; Bueno.

Red cards: Spiteri (M) 86; Camilleri (M) 90.

BoV player of the match: Anthony Curmi (Tarxien).