Floriana 5, Birkirkara 1

Daniel Nwoke took centre stage for Floriana as the Nigerian striker netted a poker of goals that propelled the Greens to an emphatic 5-1 victory over Birkirkara at the National Stadium this afternoon.

Nwoke took just 11 minutes to break the stalemate when he profited from a poor back pass by Nikola Vukanac to stab the ball past the onrushing Birkirkara goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo.

Birkirkara were clearly struggling at the back and on 18 minutes the Greens made it 2-0 when from a Christian Cassar throughball, Nwoke sped through, rounded Bartolo and deposited the ball into an empty net.

More woes were in store for Birkirkara as Nwoke completed his hat-trick on 29 minutes when this time he was set up by Ivan Woods and the Nigerian lashed the ball past Bartolo.

Birkirkara were handed a lifeline on 39 minutes when Saidi inexplicably failed to control Trevor Cilia’s cross with the ball falling kindly to Galea who had little difficulty in firing home.

However, any hopes Birkirkara had of mounting a comeback all but ended five minutes into the second half when Andrei Agius tried to cover the ball for the onrushing Bartolo but in came Nwoke who chipped the ball over the Birkirkara goalkeeper to stretch Floriana’s lead.

Birkirkara ended the match with ten players when on the hour Agius was shown a second yellow card when he directed the ball into the net with his hands from a Cilia free-kick, with referee Kevin Azzopardi quickly brandishing the red card.

Floriana’s rout was complete six minutes from time when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the area and Woods unleashed a powerful drive that gave no chance to Bartolo.

Daniel Nwoke was voted as the BOV Player of the Match.