Tarxien come back from behind to defeat Pembroke

Tarxien Rainbows had to work hard to defeat Pembroke Athleta 2-1 at Victor Tedesco Stadium.

Pembroke started the match in great form, taking advantage of a disorganised Tarxien side.

Goalkeeper Andre Cassar denied Pembroke’s Paltemio Barbetti shot, four minutes into the match.

Pembroke managed to take the lead on the 14th minute. Kyle O’Brien’s shot was deflected by a defender and off the rebound, Ariel Laudisi’s shot beat goalkeeper Andre Cassar.

Pembroke looked to have scored again when Tarxien’s Ebiabowei passed the ball back to goalkeeper Andre Cassar to have the ball slip through his legs and look to have crossed the goal line, but no goal was given.

In the second half, Pembroke continued to play with confidence.

On the 61st minute, Tarxien managed to score the equaliser. Lucky Omeruo served Luke Montebello who then beat goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia with his low shot.

Tarxien scored again on the 77th minute to take the lead for the first time in the match. Off a corner by Oliviera Santos, Daniel Zerafa headed the ball past Pembroke’s goalkeeper.

Tarxien managed to hold on to secure all three points.

PEMBROKE ATHLETA Matthew Farrugia, Zoran Levnajic, Alex Cini, Rennie Tanti, Owen Bugeja, Paltemio Barbetti, Kyle O’Brien, Siraj Arab Eddin (70’ Gibson Bardsley), Ariel Laudisi, Gustavo Villalobos Carabajal, Austin Martz.

Subs not used: Mario Muscat, Miguel Attard, Lydon Micallef, Tyron Fenech, Peter Paul Sammut, Geoffrey Spiteri.

Coach: Winston Muscat

TARXIEN RAINBOWS Andre Cassar, Ebiabowei Baker (55’ Daniel Zerafa), Manuel Caruana, Bruno Giglio de Oliviera, Timothy Tabone Desira, Tristan Caruana, Danilo Meira Santos (52’ Luke Montebello), Ayrton Azzopardi, Lucky Omeruo, Matthew Tabone (66’ Brandon Muscat), Joao Pedro Oliviera Santos.

Subs not used: Sean Mintoff, Roderick Bajada, Gaetano Gesualdi, Ren Mizugashira.

Coach: Jacques Scerri

Referee: Sandro Spiteri

Assistant Referees: William Debattista, Thomas Debono

Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia Cann

Yellow cards: O’Brien, Villalobos, M. Caruana

Scorers: 14’ Ariel Laudisi 61’ Luke Montebello 77’ Daniel Zerafa

BOV Player of the Match: Austin Martz

Hibernians returned to winning ways after they defeated Qormi 2-1 at the National Stadium. It was not an easy match for Hibernians as they had to wait till the final seconds of the match before they scored the winner.

Hibernians managed to take the lead on the 37th minute. Off a cross by Clayton Failla, a bad clearance by Noah Olawole went in the direction of Andrew Cohan who then easily beat goalkeeper Andreas Vella.

Minutes later, Hibernians when close scoring when Jorge Santos Silva missed a great opportunity.

Qormi’s Alex Nilsson was unlucky not to score when his shot it the crossbar just before the end of the first half.

Qormi managed to score the equaliser on the 73rd minute. Off a freekick by Carlo Monti, Hibernians’ Jonathan Pearson tried to clear the ball, but it hit Ousmane Sidibe with the ball roll into the net.

On the 83rd minute, Qormi lost goalkeeper Andreas Vella through injury and he had to be replaced by Jean Matthias Vella.

As it looked as both teams would be sharing the points, five minutes into added time, Hibernians scored the winner. Jurgen Degabriele’s close range shot was turned into a corner. From the corner kick, Andrei Agius beat substitute goalkeeper Jean Matthias Vella with his header.

QORMI Andreas Vella (86’ Jean Matthias Vella), Alessio Cassar, Ousmane Sidibe, Noah Olawole Ojuola, Billy Velo Berntsson, Steve Agius, Clifford Gauci, Kurt Magro (72’  Emerson Vella), Carlo Gordon Monti, Ryan Micallef (46’  Terence Vella), Alexander Nilsson.

Subs not used: Karl Sciortino, Edward Falzon, Sorin Virgil Oproiescu, Clayton Casha.

Coach: Johann Scicluna

HIBERNIANS Jurgen Borg, Rui da Gracia Gomes, Jackson di Lima Siqueira, Rodolfo Soares (29’  Jonathan Pearson), Marcelo Dias, Andrew Cohen, Bjorn Kristensen (82’  Jurgen Degabriele), Clayton Failla, Denni Rocha dos Santos (71’  Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro), Andrei Agius, Jorge Santos Silva.

Subs not used: Rudy Briffa, Daniel Buckle, Jonathan Pearson, Zach Scerri, Joseph Mbong.

Coach: Branko Nisevic

Referee: Glen Tonna

Assistant Referees: Duncan Sultana, Luke Portelli

Fourth Official: Malcolm Spiteri

Yellow Cards: T. Vella, Rui, Agius, E. Vella, A. Agius

Scorers: 37’  Andrew Cohen, 73’  Ousmane Sidibe, 90+5’  Andrei Agius

BOV Player of the Match: Billy Berntsson