Tarxien Rainbows revive hopes with Senglea Athletic win

TARXIEN RAINBOWS    4           

Falzon 23; Escobar 38

Plut 50, 84

SENGLEA ATHLETIC  2           

Dibola 64 pen Xuereb 77

TARXIEN RAINBOWS

D. Fernandes-6, C. Conceicao-6.5 (90 C. Zahra), E. Bilbao Zarate-6 (90 D. Tabone), D. Falzon-6, V. Plut-6.5, J. Debono-6 (77 L. Sciberras), L. Ferreira-6 (69 M. Spiteri), I. Paz-7 (90 K. Attard), K. Gatt-6, M. Tabone-6, C. Escobar-6.

SENGLEA

M. Farrugia-5.5, S. Uyi-5 (46 L. Brincat), A. Abela-5.5, F. Aboulezz-5.5 (87 C. Buttigieg), F. Gnindokponou-5.5 (59 D. Xuereb), S. Buhagiar-5, I. Misan-6, D. Fava, A. Scicluna-5.5, J. Dibola-6 (86 J. Attard), D. Kukic-6.

Referee: Philip Farrugia.

Red card: Fava (S) 8.

BOV Player of the Match: Ivan Paz (Tarxien Rainbows).

Tarxien Rainbows bounced back from last week’s humiliating 7-0 defeat to Santa Lucia as they beat bottom-placed Senglea Athletic.

The dismissal of Dion Fava early in the game paved the way for Rainbows, led for the first time by new coach Steve D’Amato, who dominated for an hour. Clive Mizzi’s side were back in the contention after scoring twice, however, the Rainbows sealed the issue with another goal.

Tarxien move third from bottom on 18 points, two behind Balzan, as they hope to revive their bid to avoid relegation.

It was immediately clear that things were not going in the right direction for Senglea as after just eight minutes they had Fava sent off as he pulled the goal-bound Vito Plut from the shirt.

The Rainbows went close with an Ivan Paz free-kick which was parried by Matthew Farrugia on 18 minutes.

Five minutes later, Tarxien took the lead. Plut received a good pass just outside the area and with a smart backheel, he served Darren Falzon who beat Farrugia with a diagonal shot.

On 26 minutes, a Leozinho goal-bound effort was blocked by Igor Misan among the protests of the Tarxien players who claimed the Senglea player had handled the ball but the referee waved play on. 

Tarxien, however, doubled the score on 38 minutes as Camilo Escobar headed the home off a Paz free-kick.

One minute from half-time, Jurgen Debono was unlucky to hit the crossbar following a cross from Leozinho.  

Five minutes in the second half, Tarxien scored the third goal. Paz delivered a cross from the left and Plut headed home.

Senglea reduced the gap on 64 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Debono handled the ball inside the area and from the spot, Junior Dibola Diwoto converted.

Substitute David Xuereb scored a second goal for Senglea on 77 minutes when he entered the area from the left and beat Daniel Fernandes with a well-placed shot.

However, six minutes from time, Tarxien sealed the issue with a fourth goal. Paz, once again provided the assist from the left and Plut hit low past the Senglea custodian.