Floriana produced a resilient performance as they cruised past St Andrews 4-0 at the Centenary Stadium.

Floriana were the better side early on and it was no surprise tha they took the lead on 25 minutes.

However, it was Floriana who drew first blood on 25 minutes when Maurizio Vella sped into the area and his effort was blocked by the onrushing Matthew Calleja Cremona.

Fontanella was first on the rebound and his first attempt was cleared off the line by Travis Blagrove with the aid of the woodwork but the Italian was on hand to nod the ball home from close in.

On 32 minutes, Floriana found themselves with a player less when Steve Pisani was shown a straight red card after hitting Azian in an off-the-ball incident at the halfway line.

Despite being a man down, it was Floriana who continued to create the better chances and five minutes from the break Chiesa nodded the ball into the path of Varela whose low drive drew a fine save by Calleja Cremona.

St Andrews dominated possession for much of the opening stages of the second half but they only had a long-range shot by Joseph Farrugia, which was blocked by Akpan, to show for their efforts.

On 62 minutes, the Floriana custodian was alert to turn over Adrian Borg’s cross-shot.

Still the best chances continued to fall to the Floriana forwards. On 65 minutes, Fontanella teed up Varela who with only Calleja Cremona to beat fired over.

The Saints hopes of salvaging the match suffered a blow 14 minutes from time when Azian was dismissed for a second yellow card.

With parity restored, Floriana went on to double their lead when Varela picked up a poor clearance to lash the ball past Calleja Cremona.

The Greens were not finished yet and a minute from time Enzo Ruiz made it 3-0 when he headed the ball home from a Chiesa corner-kick.

The Saints lost their plot and substitute Leighton Grech was brought down in the area by Calleja Cremona and Varela completed formalities from the spot.

 

 

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