Second-half burst propels Greens to victory

Dingli Swallows 0
Floriana 3
Darmanin 49; Ghebru 53; Ciantar 82

Floriana recovered from an opaque first-half performance to ease past relegated side Dingli Swallows and make another significant step towards Premier League survival.

It was a game of two halves for the Greens yesterday. They had looked disjointed in the opening 45 minutes and rarely troubled the Swallows' rearguard despite dominating possession.

However, the second half was a completely different story as Floriana injected more pace into their game and quickly broke the stalemate through their chief goal scorer Ryan Darmanin. Zoran Popovic's men added another two goals to their tally as the already-doomed Swallows failed to make any reaction.

This win lifted the Greens to the top of the Relegation Pool, one point ahead of Ħamrun Spartans and nine ahead of second bottom Msida. They now need one more victory from their remaining three matches to secure their top-flight status.

Popovic was unable to field his strongest formation as defender Brian Said was ruled out with a calf injury. He was replaced by Owen Bugeja.

Jesmond Zammit, the Dingli coach, had no injury problems as he looked to restore some lost pride after last week's 6-0 battering at the hands of Ħamrun. Ivan Cassar started in goal ahead of Jeffrey Farrugia who was dropped to the bench.

It was Floriana who did the early running and after 10 minutes, Darmanin came close as his volley flashed just wide.

The lanky forward threatened again on 14 minutes when he powered his way into the area but his angled drive was off target.

After this bright start, Floriana failed to maintain their momentum as they lacked the creativity and punch to unpick the Dingli rearguard.

The small crowd at the Hibs Stadium had to wait until the 40th minute for the next attempt at goal when Sacha Borg's dipping shot from the distance finished just wide.

Popovic's half-time talk revitalised Floriana who took just four minutes to break the deadlock. Stefan Lijeskic's cross was ably controlled by Darmanin who beat Cassar with a fine overhead kick.

Bolstered by their opener, the Greens intensified their pressure and doubled their advantage on 53 minutes. Michael Ghebru sped past two Dingli defenders before beating the onrushing Cassar.

The Ethiopian winger almost struck again four minutes later when he was put through by Christian Caruana but this time his shot hit the side-netting.

Dingli caoch Zammit threw caution to the wind. He threw on forward Haruna Doda for Christian Muscat to boost his team's firepower in a bid to reopen the issue.

But, Floriana retained the initiative and on the hour, Caruana's piledriver flew over.

With 17 minutes left, Floriana's nippy striker was close again when he was first to Pablo Doffo's cross but his deflected shot skimmed the upright.

Dingli's response finally arrived on 76 minutes when Brazilian midfielder Andre Rocha Da Silva curled the ball just wide from a free-kick.

Eleven minutes from time, Joseph Borg set up Darmanin just inside the area but the latter's swerving drive flew just wide.

Floriana wrapped up the points eight minutes from time when Clifton Ciantar, who had just replaced Ghebru, beat Cassar with a curling strike to send the Greens' fans into raptures.

Dingli Swallows: I. Cassar-5.5, R. Briffa-5.5, R. Conceicao 5, S. Tellus-6, R. Spiteri-5, K. Formosa-5 ('70 D. Zarb), V. Fiteni-5 ('80 C. Caruana), C. Muscat-5 ('61 H. Doda-5), K. Borg-6, A. Rocha da Silva-5.5, J. Okonkwo-4.

Floriana: B. Paris-6, O. Anonam-6.5, S. Borg-6, O. Bugeja-6.5, P. Doffo-6.5, M. Ghebru-7 ('73 C. Ciantar), J. Borg-6 ('86 M. Spiteri), R. Darmanin-7.5, S. Lijeskic-6, C. Caruana-6 ('81 C. Borg), S. Grima-6.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Yellow cards: Rocha Da Silva; Spiteri; Ghebru; Doda.

BoV player of the match: Ryan Darmanin (Floriana).