VITTORIOSA STARS 1 FLORIANA 3

Floriana came from behind to claim all three points thanks to two first-half goals by Diogo and Luca Casha and a highly contentious Gary Muir penalty after the break.

Vittoriosa monopolised possession in the first 10 minutes but rarely stretched the Vittoriosa rearguard beyond routine work . Yet, as the game moved past the 12th minute mark they reaped instant dividends thanks to Marcelo Pereira who beat Daniel Hanford with a rasping shot after being picked out by Gilbert Martin.

But Vittoriosa’s lead was short-lived as Floriana jolted their opponents with an equaliser much against the run of play. Brazilian midfielder Diogo unleashed a swerving shot into the top corner with Jean Mathias Vella stranded.

After that initial sparks, there was a lull of scoring chances as an unproductive play was very much in evidence and build-ups lacked imagination.

Vittoriosa were enjoying plenty of possession but they were hit with a sucker punch just before the break as they were caught out at the back by Floriana’s quick transition which saw Joseph Borg embarked on a mazy run that took past two defenders before guiding an inviting pass to Luca Casha who fired home.

Floriana struck a definite blow after 72 minutes in a controversial manner. Additional assistant referee Paul Caruana signalled an infringement in which a Vittoriosa players was deemed to have handled the ball in box. A decision that irked the Vittoriosa players as the incident was missed by referee Sandro Spiteri. From the ensuing spot-kick, Gary Muir kept his cool as he rifled his penalty shot past Vella.

Any slim chances Vittoriosa might have had of salvaging the game vanished into the air as Floriana finished on high with Luca Casha hitting the crossbar from close-range nine minutes from time.