Dingli delight as Okonkwo sinks Greens

Floriana 1
Wasiu 32
Dingli Swallows 2
Okonkwo 29, 80

Without a point from their first three matches, Dingli Swallows yesterday defied the odds when upstaging Floriana 2-1.

Joseph Okonkwo was Dingli's hero as the quickfire striker scored two goals to hand his team their first ever win in the top flight and leave Floriana with a hard pill to swallow.

The Greens will have felt aggrieved to have finished on the losing end after dominating the second half but Roddy Collins's men were ultimately undone by their failure to translate their supremacy into goals and a rare Brian Said mistake which led to Dingli's winner late on.

Said was making his first appearance for Floriana. The veteran defender rejoined the Greens last month in the wake of his former club Marsaxlokk's demotion to Division One. His availability enabled Collins to restore Orosco Anonam to an attacking position in a 4-4-2 formation.

Dingli coach Jesmond Zammit also opted for 4-4-2 with Okonkwo and Haruna Doda leading their attacking charge. Andre Rocha Da Silva started on the bench.

Scoring chances were scarce in the opening quarter. Floriana's Sunday-Akanni Wasiu chipped the ball over the bar after connecting to a Joseph Borg cross.

Midway through the first half, Dingli shouted penalty when, in a corner action, Clint Caruana looked to have been shoved to the ground by Borg but referee Anton Zammit saw nothing wrong.

At the other end, Clifton Ciantar's delivery from a flag-kick soared past a clutch of Dingli players and into the path of Pablo Doffo who volleyed wide. But, from the possibility of going up, Floriana found themselves a goal down a minute short of the half hour.

Caruana's corner was met with a powerful header by Shaun Tellus. The Floriana defence somehow managed to stop the ball from crossing the line but from the ensuing scramble, Okonkwo blasted home from close range.

Dingli were on cloud nine but their joy was shortlived. Within three minutes of Okonkwo's opener, Floriana had made it 1-1 thanks to Wasiu. Borg's pass paved the way for Wasiu to burst through the static Dingli defence, dash past goalkeeper Jeffrey Farrugia and drive the ball into the net.

The game remained generally balanced but the brisk movement of Wasiu and Anonam posed a constant threat for Dingli.

On the stroke of half-time, Floriana should have nosed ahead when Anonam, capitalising on some hesitant defending by Dingli, surged clear on the right before sending in a low cross towards substitute Christian Caruana. The diminutive schemer looked odds-on to score but his first touch was heavy and by the time Caruana tried to shoot goalward, the Dingli defenders had raced back to close him down.

The second half was less than a minute old when Bernard Paris thwarted Dingli when blocking a shot by Doda from close range.

Caruana's roaming and neat footwork boosted Floriana who were the brighter side in the early stages of the second period.

A neat interchange between Wasiu and Caruana carved an opening for Anonam who was clean through but his firm grounder was touched away by Farrugia.

Moments later, Wasiu, a fast-moving figure in Floriana's attack, fired a low shot that ended wide. With 17 minutes remaining, Donovan Simmonds's cross-shot flew across the face of goal.

Although Dingli were forced on the defensive for most of the second half, Okonkwo's pace kept their attacking threat alive and, with 10 minutes remaining, they scored against the run of play.

Okonkwo's presence panicked Said whose failure to control the ball left the way clear for the Nigerian to curl his shot past Paris.

Floriana now threw caution to the wind, pummelling their opponents with a series of crosses.

Duncan Pisani hit wide and, a minute from time, Farrugia pulled off a superb save to beat away Caruana's piledriver. In stoppage time, Simmonds let loose a menacing half-volley that was deflected away for a corner.

In stoppage time, Okonkwo sprinted clear but flicked wide with only Paris to beat.

Floriana
B. Paris-6, D. Pisani-5, J. Brincat-5 ('35 C. Caruana-6.5), J. Briffa-7, B. Said-6, D. Simmonds-5, P. Doffo-6.5, J. Borg-6.5 ('46 L. Agius-5), C. Ciantar-6, O. Anonam-6.5 ('77 R. Darmanin), A.S. Wasiu-7.5.

Dingli Swallows
J. Farrugia-6.5, S. Tellus-6, C. Caruana-6 ('61 C. Azzopardi-6), R. Conceicao-6, R. Spiteri-6.5, H. Doda-6.5 ('83 R. Briffa), K. Formosa-5, V. Fiteni-6, C. Muscat-6.5, D. Cachia-5.5 ('81 E. Farrugia), J. Okonkwo-8.

Referee: Anton Zammit.

Yellow cards: Briffa; Okonkwo; Agius; Spiteri.

BoV player of the match: Joseph Okonkwo (Dingli Swallows).