Tarxien Rainbows 1
Caruana 30 pen;
Floriana 2
Acevedo 34og; Samb 82;

For those teams behind the leading trio in the standings – Hibernians, Birkirkara and Valletta – the Premier League has become a rollercoaster ride.

Floriana are slowly and surely gaining a significant edge over their rivals though as yesterday they strengthened their grip on the fourth place with victory over Tarxien.

The Rainbows had done well to surge in front but Floriana caught up with them as they struck twice to register their second successive victory at the start of the second phase.

The Greens had Amadou Samb replacing the suspended Matteo Piciollo as an ally to Vito Plut up front.

The complexion of the game changed on the half-hour mark following a controversial decision taken by the referee as he delayed his decision to award a penalty when Felipe Douglas’s tackle on Alex Cini inside the area was judged to be illegal.

It may have been a harsh decision, but assistant referee Duncan Sultana, who flagged the infringement, was near enough the action and Floriana’s protests were turned down. Triston Caruana took the shot and scored.

The Floriana players were infuriated by the ref’s decision but they had the strength to make a fightback.

Four minutes later the Greens drew level when Clyde Borg fed Samb and his cross was turned into his own net by a sliding Acevedo.

Minutes after the restart, Tarxien nearly went ahead when Edu Vallecillo was denied by Matthew Calleja Cremona who tipped his free-kick over the bar.

The onus fell on Carlos Hevia to do more midfield grafting and Cini filling in the spaces on the right flank as Tarxien put pressure on the Greens’ rearguard.

On 54 minutes, Vallecillo raced unopposed to goal but shot just wide after the nippy Spaniard had split open the Floriana defence with a smart move.

The match drew to an exciting finish. Eight minutes from time, Plut showed some deft footwork to jink his way on the left flank before squaring for the unmarked Samb who stabbed the ball home.

Soon after, Igor Coronado, a replacement for Gary Muir, missed a great chance to put the result beyond the opponents’ reach as Cini rushed in to block his effort after receiving a perfect ball from Steve Pisani.

The last seconds were nail-biting as Tarxien threw caution to the wind.

Caruana could have notched the equaliser but his effort was palmed away by Calleja Cremona.

At the death, Soly Mouhamed spoilt his afternoon when he was red-carded for violent conduct after a hefty foul on substitute Brooke Farrugia.

It was to be the last act in a rousing match.

Floriana
M. Calleja Cremona-6.5, F. Douglas-5.5, E. Marcelina-5.5, S. Pisani-5, Clyde Borg-6.5 (80 G. Galea), V. Plut-6.5, Conor Borg-5.5, M. Micallef-5.5 (74 B. Farrugia), G. Muir-5.5 (52 I. Coronado-5), A. Samb-6.5, E. Briffa-6.

Tarxien Rainbows
S. Mintoff-6, O. Bugeja-6, T. Caruana-6, F. Aboulezz-5 (88 K. Farrugia), E. Vallecillo-6.5, J. Pereira-5.5, C. Hevia-6.5, I. Grech-6, A. Cini-7, S. Mouhamed, M. Acevedo-5 (84 J. Yepes).

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Yellow cards: Bugeja, Hevia, Clyde Borg, Pereira, Micallef, Aboulezz, Vallecillo.

Red card: Mouhamed (T) 90.

BOV player of the match: Alex Cini (Tarxien Rainbows).

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