Floriana 3
Balzan Youths 0
Three goals in the second half were more than enough for Floriana against Balzan Youths to enable them to continue chasing third spot in the Premier League
Balzan earned a point in a draw with Sliema last week - their first point in over a month after suffering four consecutive defeats. They are yet to register a win in the Championship Pool and have no particular objectives to play for. LydonMicallef and Pedro dos Santos Calcado were suspended while Clifton Ciantar, Roderick Farrugia and Yessous Camilleri could be back after missing the last game.
Floriana suffered a narrow defeat to Hibernians and were keen to bounce back with a win in order to make sure of staying in third place despite losing four out of the last seven matches. Pablo Doffo returned after serving a one-match ban while Clyde and Joseph Borg did not make it to the starting line-up after missing the last two games.
The Greens cannot afford any result other than a win in their bid to secure the third place. But the fact that the Youths have nothing to lose, they were still expected to give Floriana a hard time.
The Greens continued pushing forward although they seemed very half hearted and Balzan could easily control proceedings. Floriana had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down just before half time as the first 45 minutes were utterly devoid of any interest.
On 54 minutes, Caruana missed a glorious chance when he presented himself alone in front of Camilleri but shot just wide. Balzan had a good chance to take the lead on 57 minutes when Tasic received from Pace but the former’s low shot was saved by Jansen.
Floriana finally took the lead on 64 minutes when Caruana lashed home from close range leaving Camilleri rooted. The Greens continued pressing forward and should have doubled on 71 minutes when Sodje shot over from two yards. Sodje again came close on 77 minutes after receiving from Woods with the ball ending up just wide.
The Greens continued moving forward and on 85 minutes, new entrant Ryan Darmanin had a fine dipping shot which ended up wide. A minute later, Floriana finally closed off the encounter when Tyrone Farrugia ended up in the clear and slotted the ball past a hapless Camilleri. However the Greens still had another goal left in their tank and this came on 89 minutes when Sodje released Ryan Darmanin who shot home from close range.
Floriana: P. Jansen, T. Paris, M. Micallef, E. Akoto, O. Bugeja, P. Doffo, T. Farrugia, I. Woods, J. Mintoff (R. Darmanin), C. Caruana (B. Farrugia), O. Sodje
Balzan Y: M. Camilleri, J. Francica, B. Guga, Y. Camilleri, R. Forace, N. Tasic, M. Deanov, G. Bonello (N Zammit), J. Pace (M Borg), B. Bondin, R. Farrugia
Referee: C. Lautier
Scorers: C. Caruana 64, T. Tarrugia 87, R. Darmanin 89
Player of the match: C. Caruana (Floriana)
TMI Top 3: 1. Caruana 2. Sodje 3. Woods
BOV League Div II
Kirkop U-Gudja U 0-4