Tarxien Rainbows 2

Mosta 1

Tarxien Rainbows registered an important win when they manage to defeat a rather poor Mosta side by two goals to one with Mark Tanti scoring late.

After collecting six points from the previous two matches, Tarxien lost 1-2 to Qormi in their last outing. This defeat leaves the Rainbows third from bottom, just three points away from Mqabba. Coach Patrick Curmi could not field his best formation due to the absence of the suspended Everton Antonio Pereira and Justin Grioli.

Mosta collected eight points from the last four games. Last week, they lost a comfortable two-goal lead in the game against Mqabba to drop two important points which could have put them closer to safety. Kurt Magro was ruled out for Mosta until the end of the season after suffering an injury in the last game.

Despite losing twice to Tarxien, Mosta started as favourites to claim the three points to move closer to retaining their Premier League status. The absence of two key defenders was a setback for Tarxien who also sought the three points but would be ready to settle for a draw to stay on course for a place among the Premier League clubs next seasons.

Tarxien managed to score their first goal through Castro after just five minutes.

The first minutes also saw Mosta on the offensive but after 16 minutes Tarxien again came close through Anonam whose effort was well saved by Debono. On 25 minutes it was Mosta’s turn to come close when a shot by Dyson Falzon was saved for a corner by Vella. However on 31 minutes Mosta won a penalty when Obifuele’s shot was handled by Costa with the spot kick coolly converted by the same Obifuele for a 1-0 lead.

It was a balanced game in the second half, with Tarxien appearing the livelier of the two teams although Mosta threatened on the breakaways. The Rainbows had a fine chance to retake the lead on 72 minutes when De Castro broke clear on the left but his swerving shot was acrobatically saved by Debono for a corner.

Tarxien finally made it 2-1 on 86 minutes when from a goalmouth melee’, Tanti smashed in from close range. The Rainbows held out comfortably till the end with Mosta rarely proving a threat to pick up the important three points.

Tarxien Rainbows: N. Vella, S. Sadowski, C. Mamo, M. Caruana (J Vella), A. Carabott (K Pulo), R. Costa (N. Myiasi), M. Tanti, D. Bueno, L. R. De Castro, O. Anonam, C. Fenech

Mosta: J. Debono, A. Borg, A. Cini, F. Tisbi, Y. Ossok, F. Raimy, J. Bajada, D. Falzon (F. Aboulezz), G. Martin, O. Obifuele, I. Zammit

Referee: A. M. Sant

Scorers: R. De Castro 5, O. Obifuele (pen) 31, M Tanti 86

Yellow cards: Falzon, De Castro, Bueno, N Myasi, Mamo

Player of the match: De Castro (Tarxien)

TMI Top 3: 1. De Castro 2. Obifuele

3. Bueno