Late goal hands Greens three points

A controversial decision by referee Sandro Spiteri on the half hour mark was all it took for the game to be turned upside down when he delayed the decision to award a penalty in favour of the Rainbows with Felipe Douglas’ tackled judged to be a clear foul.

Despite the protests from the Floriana faithful, the referee stood by his decision for a penalty to be awarded and from the resultant kick, Triston Caruana converted.

 The Floriana players were furious by the decision being given against them but they had the mental strength to make up for what could have been a harsh decision. In fact just four minutes later the Greens scored the equaliser when Clyde Borg fed Amadou Samb and his cross was turned into his own net from close range by a rushing Acevedo.

At the restart, Tarxien almost went ahead when Edu Vallecillo was denied by Matthew Calleja Cremona who tipped his free-kick over the bar. The onus fell on Carlos Hevia to do more midfield grafting and Cini filling in the spaces on the Greens’ right flank as they put pressure on the Floriana’s rearguard. In the 54th minute, Vallecillo raced unopposed on to goal but shot just wide after the nippy Spaniard split open the Floriana defence with a smart pass.

The match was now shaping up towards an exciting end and eight minutes from time, Plut showed some neat skill to jink his way on the left flank before squaring for the unmarked Samb who stabbed the ball home.

Soon after, substitute Igor Coronado who came on for Gary Muir, missed a great chance, to put his result beyond his opponents’ reach as Cini blocked his effort after receiving from Steve Pisani.

The last seconds were nail-biting as Tarxien threw caution to the wind. Caruana could have notched the equaliser but his effort was palmed away by Matthew Calleja Cremona. At death, Soly Mouhmaed spoilt his copybook when he was red-carded probably for showing dissent, after being pulled up for a hefty foul on Brooke Farrugia. It was to be the last act in a rousing match.

BOV Man of the Match: Alex Cini