Qormi 1
Nwoke 25;
Floriana 1
Farrugia 69;
Floriana wore their traditional green-and-white striped shirts for their clash with the resurgent Qormi but it was the latter who enjoyed the rub of the green in the first half as Daniel Nwoke scored a fortuitous goal to leave his former team facing an uphill struggle.
Nwoke’s 25th-minute opener threatened to derail Floriana who, until then, had been the brighter side but to their credit, Michael Woods’s men kept their focus and deservedly gained an equaliser midway into the second half, courtesy of the unwavering Tyrone Farurgia, to move alongside leaders Hibs on 13 points, albeit with a game more.
All things considered, the draw was a fair outcome that satisfied Floriana and Qormi as it extended both teams’s positive run and confirmed their progress of late.
The Greens will have fancied their chances after their 4-0 thrashing of Marsaxlokk but Qormi, who were also coming from a morale-boosting win, have come by leaps and bounds in the last month.
The inclusion of winger John Mintoff for Joseph Borg was the only change in the Floriana team from the rout of Marsaxlokk.
Stephen Azzopardi, the Qormi coach, retained the same formation that started the 3-2 victory of Ħamrun Spartans.
Nwoke was assigned the central striking role as Azzopardi detailed Brazilian forward Jorginho and Nigerian Abubakar Bello-Osagie to offer support from the wings.
Floriana’s tactical approach was similar as Christian Caruana and Mintoff took up the wide midfield positions with Ivan Woods and Boris Odwong leading the line.
Four minutes into the game, Caruana headed wide from Pablo Doffo’s corner. Qormi protested for a penalty when Farrugia’s short clearance from Joseph Farrugia’s free-kick came off Odwong but referee Clayton Pisani was unmoved.
From the ensuing melee, Bello-Osagie’s header surprised Manuel Bartolo but the ball dropped wide of the near post.
The early exchanges were brisk with both sides showing an inclination to attack. The Greens should have taken the lead when Caruana astutely picked out Woods inside the box but the latter’s grounder was fractionally wide.
On another occasion, Woods went for power as he took a free-kick from the edge of the box but his effort lacked precision.
Floriana were now pushing forward with purpose. Caruana showed excellent poise as he turned to leave Jeffrey Chetcuti and Roderick Sammut in his wake but his diagonal strike was pushed away by Farrugia.
From the possibility of going 1-0 down, Qormi found themselves ahead. Their goal contained a dose of good fortune as Nwoke looked to have miscued his shot from a tight angle as the ball glanced off Mano Micallef’s outstretched hands and trickled past the wrong-footed Bartolo.
Qormi’s opener shook Floriana. Christian Cassar came close to levelling matters for the Greens but his rising shot from the edge of the box sailed high. Bello-Osagie did likewise for Qormi.
Early in the second half, Mintoff’s fast-moving presence forced Bartolo into hitting a short backpass. The Floriana winger was quick to capitalise as he strode past goalkeeper Farrugia but Mintoff could only sent his shot against the side-netting.
That was to be Mintoff’s last contribution as the on-loan winger was replaced by Joseph Okonkwo 10 minutes into the second half.
Floriana looked to have equalised close to the hour when Woods teed up Caruana who advanced before slotting pas Farrugia but the ‘goal’ was disallowed for a dubious handball by the Greens livewire.
Undaunted, the Greems quickly reclaimed the initiative to put their opponents under pressure. They made it 1-1 with 21 minutes remaining, Farrugia hitting past the Qormi goalkeeper from Cassar’s dipping corner.
Nwoke should have restored Qormi’s lead when, in a goalmouth scramble, the ball ricocheted off three Floriana players and fell into the Nigerian’s path but his flick from point blank crashed against the post.
In the closing stages, Clyde Borg, who had come on for the limping Doffo, whacked his shot over the bar after Qormi had partially cleared Cassar’s corner.
At the other end, Jorginho’s effort was deflected away for a corner by Farrugia.
Qormi: M. Farrugia-6, J. Chetcuti-6.5 (65 J. Chetcuti-5), R. Sammut-7, M. Bartolo-5.5, J. Farrugia-6.5, L. Sciberras-5.5 (75 D. Cachia), K. Scicluna-7, Jorge Pereira-5, S. Wellman-6, A. Bello-Osagie-6.5, D. Nwoke-5.
Floriana: M. Bartolo-6, O. Bugeja-6, M. Micallef-5, T. Farrugia-7, D. Pisani-6, P. Doffo-6 (71 C. Borg-6), I. Woods-6.5, C. Cassar-6, J. Mintoff-6.5 (56 J. Okonkwo-6), C. Caruana-7.5, B. Odwong-5.5 (77 J. Borg).
Referee: Clayton Pisani.
Yellow cards: Mintoff; Sciberras; Nwoke; Caruana; Pisani; Farrugia; Bugeja.
BOV player of the match: Christian Caruana (Floriana).