Rainbows fightback stuns Citizens

Valletta 2
Pace 40; Priso 44
Tarxien Rainbows 2
Ribeiro 61, 64

Tarxien Rainbows battled back from two goals down to earn a point against Valletta. Starring at yet another defeat at the interval, Noel Coleiro's side refused to accept what appeared to be the inevitable.

Dredging up a collective resolve, Tarxien rallied to send shivers down the spines of their supporters and prove that they are a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League this season.

Valletta had been close to scoring a third goal more than Tarxien had been to a first but when Anderson Ribeiro halved the deficit, the Tarxien players sensed that it was their chance to take something from the match.

For Valletta, who had been in control from the outset, this felt like a defeat. The memories of Jamie Pace's opening goal and Doding Priso's second appeared distant.

Tarxien's first half tactics played into Valletta hands as the Rainbows set up to frustrate the Lilywhites who needed little encouragement to quickly set about trying to engineer a way through the Tarxien defence putting huge pressure on their opponents.

Terrence Scerri was immediately involved in a goalmouth scramble during which he twice had attempts blocked by the Tarxien goalkeeper Anthony Curmi inside the first five minutes.

Ribeiro provided some rare action for Valletta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg when he struck a shot that flew over the bar.

After 25 minutes, Scerri did well to pick Doding Priso but the Cameroon forward's effort was saved by Curmi.

Valletta were making all the running and it was no surprise that they forged ahead on 40 minutes.

Jamie Pace is more renowned for his battling qualities but when Jordi Cruyff sent a cross into his path, the midfielder showed impressive technique to swerve the ball into the top corner.

Noel Coleiro brought on Kurt Magro to beef up the midfield but to no avail as four minutes later, Valletta were two to the good. Curmi failed to clear Dyson Falzon's cross and the ball fell kindly to Priso who easily fired the ball into an empty net.

Tarxien looked to be hurtling towards defeat and on 55 minutes a mix-up between Curmi and Pereira almost resulted in a bizarre own goal before the danger was averted.

But the Rainbows were an altogether different proposition going forward, with David Camilleri driving them forward from a four-man midfield that also included Mark Tanti, Magro and Gianluca Calabretta in support of strikers Riberio and Warren Chircop.

On the hour, Calabretta's direct run from the flank took a slight deflection off Justin Grioli but nonetheless he succeeded to send Ribeiro through on goal and the Brazilian striker lobbed the ball over the onrushing Hogg. Valletta were on the ropes and, with Tarxien swarming forward, an equaliser seemed inevitable.

Three minutes later, Tanti sent over a deep cross which found the head of Ribeiro who ran in between two defenders and glanced a header into the far corner of the net.

On 73 minute, Valletta coach Ton Caanen sent on Gilbert Agius and Kevin Sammut for Falzon and Edmond Agius respectively in a bid to boost his team's attacking lines.

Both sides had their chances to grab a winner.

Curmi's evening ended on a high when he saved on an Agius's goalbound header. While at the other end, Hogg went on to collect the ball but slipped over and collided with Kenneth Scicluna who recovered in time to clear the danger.

But in the end the draw was a fair result for the work-rate and endeavour showed by both teams.

Valletta
A. Hogg-5, S. Bezzina-6, J. Grioli-5 , L. Dimech-6, K. Scicluna-6.5, J. Cruyff-6.5, D. Falzon-6 ('72 G. Agius-5), D. Priso-6, T. Scerri-4.5 , J. Pace-6, E. Agius-5.5 ('73 K. Sammut-5).

Tarxien Rainbows
A.Curmi-6, S. Sadowski-6, D. Camilleri-6, G. Calabretta-7.5, E. Pereira-6, A. Ribeiro-8, M. Tanti-6.5 ('87 L. Galea), W. Chircop-5 ('72 M. Caruana), L. Vella Critien- 6, Denni-5 ('38 K. Magro-6), R. Mintoff-6.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Sadowski; Dimech; Pace.

BoV player of the match: Anderson Ribeiro (Tarxien Rainbows).