Floriana 3
Brown 58; Cilia 70; Darmanin 72;
Rabat Ajax 0
Floriana had to dig deep into their reserves of energy and willpower before seeing off a resolute Rabat Ajax side in a match that came to life after the interval.
Although the scoreline may suggest that the Greens had a field day, in reality they found it hard to break down a plucky Rabat defence.
As the Greens struggled to pro-duce scoring opportunities in the first half, the Magpies must have started to believe that they could leave the Ħamrun ground with at least a point in their bags.
However, all that changed on the restart when stand-in coach Alan Lewer introduced Duncan Pisani and Floriana switched to a 3-5-2 formation.
This tactical alteration provided more width for the Greens as they started to find openings in their opponents’ half until towering defender Aaron Brown got the breakthrough just before the hour.
From then, things became easier for Floriana who went on to add two more goals and secure three useful points that lifted them closer to the higher placings in the standings.
For the second successive match, Floriana were under Lewer’s charge as head coach Mark Wright is still away from the island due to personal reasons.
Tyrone Farrugia shrugged off a calf injury to start in the heart of defence while Jonathan Debono was handed the no.1 jersey ahead of Jurgen Borg.
Rabat coach Silvio Vella was again without Lithuanian striker Nerijus Astrauskas, suspended, while goalkeeper Sean Mintoff was deemed only fit to start on the bench with Jonathan Azzopardi getting the nod to defend the Magpies’ goal.
German midfielder Heiner Backhaus was back in the starting formation ahead of the recovering Yan Cauchi while Patrick Borg was preferred to Chris Schembri.
It was Rabat who made the brisker start and, after only two minutes, David Azzopardi’s curling drive finished just over.
Floriana’s response arrived on 12 minutes when Sunday Wasiu burst into the Rabat area but his run was blocked by the onrushing Azzopardi.
The match was devoid of scoring chances for much of the rest of the first half as both teams resorted to long balls that posed little danger to the defenders.
Floriana bossed proceedings in midfield but lacked flair when trying to advance in the opposing half with the result that Wasiu often cut a frustrating figure up front.
The English striker finally threatened four minutes from the break. After controlling Verma’s long pass, Wasiu used his strength to move past Dylan Falzon but was denied by Azzopardi who charged out of his goal to avert danger on his goal.
On the restart, Lewer withdrew Farrugia and roped in Pisani who took a wide role on the right of midfield.
The switch boosted the Greens and Wasiu’s long-range shot was blocked by the alert Azzopardi.
Floriana’s persistence paid off on 58 minutes. Pisani was upended by Falzon on the right wing. From the resultant free-kick, taken by Verma, Brown was first to the ball and directed a header past Azzopardi.
On 61 minutes, Rabat failed to clear Verma’s cross, the ball fell into the path of Owen Bugeja who sidestepped his marker but his low drive was blocked by Azzopardi.
Rabat had a glorious opportunity to draw level on 65 minutes when Manuel Fuster robbed Kane Farrugia of the ball and quickly served Adam Smeir who incredibly failed to make contact with the ball in front of a gaping goal.
On 68 minutes, Ryan Darmanin came on for Thomas Paris and the substitute almost made an immediate impact but fired wide after receiving from Verma.
However, the Greens managed to double their lead on 70 minutes when Pisani found Trevor Cilia in the area and the Floriana midfielder unleashed a powerful drive that gave Azzopardi no chance.
The match was over as a contest two minutes later. Cilia turned provider as he played in Darmanin who beat Azzopardi with a low drive.
Nine minutes from time, Brown almost netted his second of the day but his angled drive was pushed away for a corner by Azzopardi.
That turned out to be Brown’s last contribution as the English defender was involved in an altercation with Rabat’s Patrick Borg with referee Kevin Azzopardi brandishing the red card to dismiss both players.
Two minutes from time, Azzo-pardi came close to pulling a goal back for the Magpies but his shot from the distance was touched away by Debono.
Floriana
J. Debono-6, T. Farrugia-6 (46 D. Pisani-6), A. Brown, O. Bugeja-6.5, K. Farrugia-5, A. Verma-6.5, T. Paris-6 (68 R. Darmanin-6.5), C. Borg-5, K. Tremarco-5.5, T. Cilia-7, S. Wasiu-6 (75 V. Alhinho).
Rabat Ajax
J. Azzopardi-5, I. Carapic-5, J. Caruana-5 (73 C. Gauci), H. Backhaus-5 (62 C. Schembri-5), J. Felice-5, A. Smeir-4.5, M. Fuster-6, D. Falzon-6, P. Borg, C. Brincat-6, D. Azzopardi-6.5.
Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.
Yellow cards: K. Farrugia, P. Borg, Brown, Falzon, Backhaus, Darmanin, C. Borg.
Red cards: Brown (F) 82; Borg (R) 82.
BOV player of the match: Trevor Cilia (Floriana).