Point each for Floriana, Qormi

Floriana 2 Qormi 2

An encounter between two sides eyeing a championship pool berth featured a game that at times showed plenty of endeavours but little quality. In the end, both sides ended with a point despite failing to steal an early march on their rivals.

Hardly three minutes from the start of the game had passed when Qormi opened the scoring. Vincenzo Pisani capitalised on a mistake by Floriana Jonathan Debono who found Gaetan Spiteri’s shot too hot to handle, the Italian nippy striker followed the action and duly profited as he powered his shot into the net from close in.

Qormi’s lead was short-lived as Floriana jolted their opponents with an equaliser.

In the 10th minute, Floriana’s dead-ball specialist Aman Verma tried his luck from a free-kick 25 metres out but Jonathan Bondin sliding back managed to deflect the ball away for a corner.

At the second time of asking, four minutes later, Verma unleashed a swerving shot around the wall and beyond the despairing dive of Steve Sultana.

After the initial sparks, there was a lull of scoring chances.

Floriana were enjoying plenty of possession but they were almost hit with a sucker punch in the 37th minute. For Qormi, Bello-Osagie was proving a persistent menace down the right as he embarked on a mazy run that took him past two defenders and it needed a good block by Tyrone Farrugia to keep his shot out.

Bello-Osagie served up another early warning when in the third minute of the second half as he exchanged passes with Pisani with the latter made headway in the Floriana half before hitting from a favourable position. His curling goal-bound effort from inside the box brought a brilliant save out of Debono. Soon after, Azzopardi unleashed Joseph Chetcuti for Spiteri.

Chetcuti made an immediate impact on the game when he played a key role in Qormi’s second goal. After 65 minutes, Roderick Sammut’s long punt forward was headed down by Kris Thackray for Chetcuti who immediately set Pisani through the heart of Floriana’s defence.  The Italian player still had plenty to do when he picked up Chetcuti’s pass before coolly finishing past Debono.

Floriana’s riposte was again instant and equalised two minutes later.

Trevor Cilia demonstrated the verve that made him such a coveted player in the past year with a surging run before serving Sunday Wasiu who crashed his home after the Qormi goalkeeper Steve Sultana had allowed the shot to squeeze under his body.