Igor Coronado leading Floriana’s charge against Melita.Igor Coronado leading Floriana’s charge against Melita.

Iain Brunskill was a satisfied man on Monday evening.

The Englishman had just seen his charges score a goal in each half to see off Melita 2-0 as Floriana secured their fourth successive win in the Relegation Pool. More importantly, victory meant the Greens were certain that they will play in the top flight next season.

Really, given the prestige a club like Floriana enjoys in local football history, playing top flight competition is something they should be accustomed to.

However, given the turbulent campaign they’ve experienced this season, victory over Melita was greeted with a huge dose of satisfaction by the club.

Brunskill said: “When I started coaching at Floriana we set two targets mainly... to keep the club in the Premier League and top place in the Relegation Pool.

“Monday’s victory means we will be playing in the Premier League next season... a club with a glorious past like Floriana deserve nothing less.”

Brunskill’s task to lead the Greens to safety was far from simple.

Brought in last February to replace Stephen Azzopardi (the third coach hired by Floriana after Mark Wright and Alan Lewer), the former Blackburn Rovers assistant coach had to deal with a number of issues to settle his squad’s nerves.

“When I was offered the job I immediately accepted as I knew Maltese football would have provided me with a lot of new challenges,” Brunskill said.

“At the time, the club was working hard to overcome a series of administrative problems and the morale in the squad was quite low. We had a talk with the players and agreed that to finish the season in a better position we had to win matches fast.

“The response was excellent as our performances in the Relegation Pool improved significantly and we have now won four matches in a row.

“Floriana still have four left and our goal is to keep going and look for more progress.”

Brunskill, 36, is yet to reach a peak in his coaching career but the he has a clear idea of what his immediate future holds.

“My future is Floriana FC,” he said.

“I’m happy and settled at this club. Malta is a beautiful place and I love the people and the football culture here. Now that our position is safe, we shall soon start to plan for next season. We want to establish ourselves among the top six teams in the league.

“I’m fully committed to the cause and I’m sure that there is a bright future at this club.”

Floriana’s success in recent weeks depended mostly on the scoring exploits of Igor Coronado.

The slick 20-year-old Brazilian has lit up the Premier League with some vibrant performances that saw him bagging 12 goals since joining the Greens in November.

“Igor Coronado has been an outstanding performer for us lately. Against Melita on Monday I’m told that he has set a new club record as the lad has now scored in each of our last six matches,” Brunskill said.

“We have to be realistic and concede that given his exceptional talent, sooner or later he will be offered a move to a better league even though I think that he still needs a year or two to fulfil his potential.

“Our intent is to keep him at the club and help him maximise his talent.”

Brunskill said Floriana are already planning to add more players to the squad but made it clear that the young ones who fared so well in difficult times will not be discarded.

“In summer we’ll be trying to strengthen the team as we want to avoid the Relegation Pool next season,” Brunskill said.

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we will overlook the youth players.

“My vision is that the club’s young players should form an integral part of the senior squad. Clyde Borg, Owen Bugeja, Kane Farrugia and Mark Spiteri all show good promise... they represent the future for Floriana FC.”

Statistics

Balzan FC – Elton 14 (4 pens); Pedrinho 8 (1 pen); N’Dekre 5; Con-ceicao 3, Caruana 3, Darmanin 3; Licari 2; Mendy, Deanov, Pace, Forace, Camilleri, Aboulezz.
Red cards: Conceicao (vs Ħamrun, vs Valletta), Licari (vs Hibs), Pace (vs Sliema), Forace (vs Mosta), Camilleri (vs Rabat), Mendy (vs Hibs).

Birkirkara – Jhonnattann 14 (1 pen); Mifsud Triganza 9; Haruna 7 (2 pens); Vukanac 6; R. Muscat 4, Joselito 4; Herrera 3, Camenzuli 3; Sciberras 2, Fenech 2; Z. Muscat, Scicluna, Pereira, Zerafa.
Own goal: Mintoff (vs Sliema).
Red cards: Scicluna (vs Balzan), Fenech (vs Ħamrun), Herrera (vs Qormi), Haruna (vs Sliema).

Floriana – Coronado 12; Darmanin 8 (now Balzan); Wasiu 4, Verma 4; Cilia 2, Pisani 2; Alhinho, Brown, Jeffers, Spiteri, Bugeja, Nwoko, C. Borg, J. Borg.
Red cards: Brown (vs Rabat), K. Farrugia (vs Mosta, vs Rabat), Alhinho (vs Hibs).

Ħamrun – Grima 6 (3 pens); Vella 5; Lumbilla 3, Calabretta 3, Camilleri 3 (1 pen); Lattes 2, Fenech 2; Scerri, Bozhov, Zerafa, Spiteri, Yoshev, Borg, Favero.
Own goal: Gribbon (vs Melita).
Red cards: Fenech (vs Floriana, vs Balzan), Cassar (vs Tarxien), Vitanov (vs Sliema), Cassar (vs Qormi), Borg (vs Qormi).

Hibernians – Failla 9 (2 pens), Lima 9 (2 pens); Cohen 7, Farrugia 6; Luis Edison 4; Pulis 3, Soares 3, Ribeiro 3, Dias 3; Pisani, Levnaic, Nwoba, Kristensen, Camilleri, Bezzina, Kardeck.
Own goals: Guga (vs Ħamrun), Giglio (vs Balzan), Vandelannoite (vs Valletta).
Red cards: Muscat (vs Balzan, vs Valletta), Dias (vs Balzan), Pulis (vs Tarxien, vs Mosta), Nwoko (vs Melita), Dias (vs Birkirkara), Soares (vs Valletta).

Melita – Armario Negrin 5 (now Rabat), L. Micallef 5; Galea 3; Cabanillas 2, Tufegdzic 2; Vukanic (pen), Sammut, Sierra Camacho, Borg Olivier, Galea.
Own goal: Pace (vs Balzan).
Red cards: Vukanic (vs Valletta), Sierra Camacho (vs Tarxien), Valenzia (vs Valletta), Sammut (vs Balzan), Caruana Scicluna (vs Mosta), Vella Petroni (vs Qormi).

Mosta – Obiefule 11 (1 pen); Mitev 11 (1 pen); Bogdanovic 5 (1 pen); Apap 3; Aboulezz 2, Zongo 2 (1 pen), Campagnoli 2; Bajada, Chiemeka, Maia Dos Santos, Mbonu, Micallef.
Own goal: Bello-Osagie (vs Qormi).
Red cards: Grech (vs Sliema), Aboulezz (vs Floriana), Dimech (vs Balzan).

Qormi – Bello-Osagie (now Valletta) 8; Effiong 7 (1 pen); Avila Perez 5 (1 pen), Chetcuti 5; Pisani 4, Zarate 4; Spiteri 3, Siritto 3, Thackray 3 (1 pen); Grech 2; Sciberras, Cassar.
Own goal: Tufegdzic (vs Melita).
Red cards: Bondin (vs Rabat), Sciberras (vs Floriana).

Rabat – Armario Negrin 10 (4 pens); Fuster 3; Astrauskas 2, Felice 2 (1 pen), Licari 2, Azzopardi 2; Smeir, Carapic, Borg, Cauchi.
Red cards: Borg (vs Floriana), Brincat (vs Sliema Wanderers).

Sliema – Woods 11 (3 pens); Muchardi 6; Faccini 4; Ruggiero 3, Ciantar 3; A. Muscat 2; El Ghaouti, Barbetti, Timotic, Gatt Baldacchino, Laudisi, Mifsud, Martinelli, Ohawuchi, Zammit.
Red cards: Scerri (vs Floriana), Bonello (vs Floriana), Martinelli (vs Hibs), Zammit (vs Birkirkara).

Tarxien – Bueno 16 (2 pens); Danilo 8; Andrezinho 6; Evaldo 5; Anonam 2; Tanti 2, Leandro 2; Pulo, Bonnici, Bajada, Tulio.
Red cards: Danilo (vs Sliema), Evaldo (vs Birkirkara), Andrezinho (vs Hibs), Caruana (vs Sliema).

Valletta – Mifsud 18 (2 pens); Denni 8; Barbosa 7 (3 pens); Gabriel 5, Fenech 5, Toure 5 (1 pen); Caruana 3; Leandro 2, Briffa 2, Zammit 2 (1 pen); Ricardo, Borg, Ogunnuppe, Vandelannoite, Dimech, Bello-Osagie.
Own goal: Tufegdzic (vs Melita).
Red card: Vandelannoite (vs Hibs).

Next fixtures

Friday: Hibs Stadium: 6pm Ħamrun Spartans vs Rabat Ajax; 8pm Balzan vs Floriana.
Saturday: National Stadium: 3pm Melita vs Qormi; 5pm Sliema Wanderers vs Valletta.
Sunday: National Stadium: 3pm Tar-xien vs Mosta; 5pm Hibs vs Birkirkara.

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Birkirkara 28 17 7 4 59 21 37
Hibernians 28 18 3 7 60 30 35
Valletta 28 15 8 5 64 25 30
Sliema 28 14 6 8 38 23 30
Tarxien 28 13 6 9 45 41 26
Mosta 28 11 1 16 42 58 17
               
Floriana 28 10 10 8 40 36 28
Qormi 28 12 4 12 47 44 25
Balzan 28 8 9 11 44 48 20
Ħamrun 28 6 5 17 32 71 15
Rabat 28 3 9 16 25 56 13
Melita 28 3 8 17 23 66 10

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