O'Brien scores four as City romp to victory

Dingli Swallows 0
Valletta 6
O'Brien 3, 25, 52, 80; Cruyff 12, 34

Ton Caanen's Valletta struck a psychological blow on the eve of the Championship Pool as Declan O'Brien's remarkable four-goal haul ensured City regained the top position in the standings at the half-way stage of the league campaign.

The Citizens went into the game knowing that a win would see them leapfrog Birkirkara to sit at the summit, albeit with the same tally as the Stripes after points are halved.

On paper it seemed they could not get an easier opportunity, with Dingli having won only once in 17 matches. Valletta's problems were of the more traditional kind - Gilbert Agius, Terence Scerri and Doding Priso all suspended. Not that Valletta's line-up needed to be at its strongest, with their modest opponents chasing shadows for much of the game as O'Brien, Jordi Cruyff and Kevin Sammut ran the show.

It was a ruthless performance from Valletta. Predictably, Dingli's defence folded under the constant pressure but the Citizens broke the deadlock in a controversial way.

In fact, on three minutes, O'Brien scored with a low hard drive from inside the box. Assistant referee Fyodor Zammit raised his flag to signal an infringment, probably offside, and referee Andre Arciola cancelled the goal. But, sadly for Dingli, the referee had second thoughts and over-ruled the linesman's decision, obviously deeming O'Brien had been put through by a back-pass from Dingli defender Christian Muscat.

After 12 minutes, the lead was doubled when Cruyff met Edmond Agius's perfect cross to ram the ball home.

Dingli were nowhere to be seen and on 25 minutes Cruyff had the better of a challenge with goalkeeper Ivan Cassar, the ball rolled into the path of O'Brien who tapped home inside an empty net.

There was little respite for the struggling Swallows. Just 34 minutes were on the clock when Valletta racked up their fourth goal, Cruyff stretching to volley home Kevin Sammut's inviting ball.

It was an exquisite strike, reminiscent of the Dutchman's time at Barcelona and Manchester United even though he was allowed extra room to twist and turn inside the penalty area before shooting into the bottom corner.

Surely, this was abysmal defending from Dingli and worse was to follow after the break as they did nothing to prevent Valletta's fifth, O'Brien waltzing into the box to slot home Dyson Falzon's pin-point cross after 52 minutes.

Dingli's first glimpse of goal came four minutes later when Renato Garcia Conceicao sent a free-kick just wide.

That proved the first and last of Dingli's forward play and Valletta midfielder Dylan Grima - who came in as a substitute - swept forward to set up O' Brien to hammer his fourth past Cassar.

There was still 10 minutes remaining at that point and Dingli must have feared the worst, but Caanen's men played out time to conserve energy safe in the knowledge that they had sent out a warning signal to their direct rivals in the Championship Pool.

Playing today

Tedesco Stadium (18.00): Floriana vs Msida St Joseph.

Centenary Stadium (18.00): Ħamrun vs Tarxien Rainbows.

Dingli Swallows: I. Cassar-4, R. Briffa-4.5, R. Garcia Conceicao-5, R. Spiteri-4.5, K. Formosa-4.5, C. Muscat-4.5, V. Fiteni-4.5 (85' C. Sammut), K. Borg-4.5 (67' E. Farrugia-4.5), A. Rocha da Silva-4, J. Okonkwo-4, D. Zarb-4.

Valletta: A. Hogg-6, K. Scicluna-6, S. Bezzina-6, L. Dimech-6, S. Borg-7, K. Sammut-6.5 (46' C. Frendo-5.5), J. Cruyff-7.5 (77' A. Carabott), D. O'Brien-8, E. Agius-6.5, J. Pace-5.5 (46' D. Grima-6), D. Falzon-7.

Referee: Andre Arciola.

BoV player of the match: Declan O'Brien (Valletta).