Tarxien R: D. Cassar, S. Sadowski, M. Caruana (R. Mintoff), E. Pereira (R. Costa), C. Rodriguez, S. Pacheco, D. Bueno, J. Vella, O. Anonam, L. Galea, J. Grioli (G. Calabretta)

Floriana: L. Saidi, D. Pisani, T. Farrugia, P. Doffo, T. Paris (O. Bugeja), C. Cassar, C. Caruana, D. Draganov (J. Borg), I. Woods, D. Nwoke (S. Borg), M. Micallef

Referee: P. Caruana Asst.refs: P. Agius, J. Camilleri 4th official: A.M. Sant

Scorers: D. Draganov 32, D. Bueno 47 og, 88

Yellow cards: T. Paris, S. Sadowski, L. Galea, G. Calabretta

Red card: P. Doffo

Player of the match: M. Micallef (Floriana)

TMI top 3: 1. C. Cassar 2. M. Micallef 3. L. Galea

Attendance: 436

Floriana earned a hard fought victory that keeps them in the forefront for second place after disposing of Tarxien Rainbows at the Hibs Stadium yesterday.

Their main challengers Birkirkara and Marsaxlokk play Hamrun Spartans and Valletta respectively this afternoon.

With a runners-up spot being their main aim, Floriana went into this match in more lively fashion, although Tarxien proved resilient opponents, and never allowed them any comfort on the ball, especially in the second half.

Buoyed by the return of Christian Caruana, and with Draganov starting the match instead of El Yamani, Floriana went into their task with more self belief. The dismissal of centre back Pablo Doffo towards half time, might have jeopardized their first half lead, but when the second goal came early after the restart, the Greens could soak much of Tarxien’s pressure.

In fact the Rainbows fought gamely and were the better side in the second half but were unable to recover a two-goal deficit despite enjoying numerical superiority for the whole of the second 45 minutes. They only scored a late consolation goal which proved too little at the end.

The early exchanges were energetic rather than cohesive.

But after the first 20 minutes, the Greens started to mount some sustained pressure. When Grioli slipped on a Micallef pass, Caruana failed to put his effort on target.

Past the half hour, a Doffo free kick was chested down by Nwoke but Woods’ shot was blocked into a corner.

On 32 minutes, Tarxien keeper David Cassar dropped the ball on Christian Cassar’s free kick from the left, perhaps slightly pushed inside the area, and Dragomir Draganov knocked it over the line to put Floriana in front.

Flroiana fluffed another good opportunity five minutes later when Nwoke hit horrendously off target when well served by Draganov.

The referee had been turning a blind eye on a couple of contacts inside the Floriana area, which irked the Tarxien supporters. But the referee was correct not to punish the Floriana keeper Saidi who had rushed outside the area to head away the ball, with his raised arm, as Rodriguez tried to get past him on 40 minutes. With halftime looming, Floriana were reduced to ten men. Doffo was shown a straight red as he fouled Bueno on the edge of the area, to complicate matters.

Tarxien relished their chances in the second half, as they could exploit their numerical superiority, but suffered an early setback after only two minutes of the resumption. Christian Cassar’s free kick from the left was deflected in by Bueno into his own net when distracted by Nwoke’s aerial threat inside the Tarxien area.

Tarxien put in Calabretta and later Ricardo Costa for defenders Grioli and Pereira with no other option but to push everything forward.

On 55 minutes, Lee Galea’s free kick fell to Pacheco, whose squeezed shot was headed into a corner by Micallef. Pacheco shot wide when well placed in front of goal and by the hour, Bueno was blocked inside the Floriana area after playing one-two with Rodriguez. The latter had his shot saved by the grounded keeper Saidi on the loose ball.

Galea headed just over from another Calabretta centre as they pinned Floriana inside their own area.

But Floriana looked menacing with their fast breaks. Woods had concluded Cassar’s cross wide and on 70 minutes Nwoke combined well with Christian Cassar, ran in for the return through ball as keeper David Cassar rushed off his line to clear.

Tarxien still summoned enough effort to keep pressure on their opponents. On 76 minutes keeper Saidi held out successive shots from Costa and Calabretta to frustrate Tarxien.

But the Rainbows’ efforts were rewarded with at least a consolation goal two minutes from the end. Daniel Bueno headed in Calabretta’s cross from the right but Floriana held on to their lead for the time remaining to preserve a very important win.