The Floriana clan celebrate their win against Haverfordwest County. Photo: Floriana FC Media.
HAVERFORDWEST 2
Walters 11
Ahmun 17
FLORIANA 3
Zammit Lonardelli 19; Grech 44 pen.
M’Mombwa 67
(Floriana win 5-3 on aggregate)
HAVERFORDWEST
L. Rees, D. Rees (78 E. Scotcher), K. McCarthy, A. Jones, R. Watts (57 I. Humphreys), G. Walters, C. Shephard, R. Abbruzzese, D. Hawkins (78 L. Owen), B. Ahmun, B. Fawcett (65 O. Jones).
FLORIANA
G. Cioletti, G. Gamarra, I. Mendonca, L. Lopez, C. Zammit Lonardelli (31 A. Garzia), D. Vella, J. Grech, C. M’Mombwa (83 M. Veselji), F. Varela, M. Jan, T. Glisovic (64 Z. Scerri).
Referee: Joao Gonçalves (Portugal).
Yellow cards: A. Jones, Zammit Lonardelli, Shepard, Abbruzzese.
Floriana survived an early scare to progress into the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Welsh side Haverfordwest County to progress 5-3 on aggregate.
It was far from a routine evening for the Greens who found themselves two goals behind inside the first 17 minutes of the match.
But Floriana refused to panic and they quickly levelled the tie when Carlo Zammit Lonardelli pulled a goal back.
However, the turning point of the match arrived on the stroke of half-time when Haverfordwest defender Alaric Jones conceded a penalty, which was converted by Jake Grech, and received a second booking.
That left the Welsh side needing a goal to level the tie, but worse to play the whole second half with a player less.
Floriana took full advantage as they went on to grab the winner through Charles M’Mwomba to set up a second qualifying round tie against Montenegro’s FC Ballkani.
Floriana coach Daniel Portela made two changes to the team that secured a 2-1 win in last week’s first leg as Carlo Zammit Lonardelli and Todor Glisovic started ahead of Alejandro Garzia and Mattia Veselji.
The match started on the wrong foot for Floriana as poor set-piece defending enabled Haverfordwest County to take the lead.
Daniel Hawkins’ delivery from a corner found Alaric Jones at the far post, and the central defender nodded the ball into the path of Greg Waters, who fired the ball into the net.
That was a tough blow for the Greens early on as they saw their one-goal advantage from the first leg neutralised inside the first ten minutes.
But things got from bad to worse for Floriana as the Welsh side doubled their lead six minutes later.
Ben Ahmun latches onto a long pass and shows great footwork to move past two Floriana defenders before hitting a fine curling shot that flew into the top corner of the net.
Floriana needed a quick response, and that came on 19 minutes when they pulled one back.
Jake Grech found Carlo Zammit Lonardelli on the edge of the area, and the wingback’s thumping drive was deflected into the net.
Haverfordwest threatened again close to the half-hour mark, but Rhys Abbruzzese’s inswinger flew over.
Minutes later, Portela was forced to make his first change as Zammit Lonardelli pulled up injured and was replaced by Aleandro Garzia.
Two minutes from the break, Florian managed to equalise when Alaric Jones fouled Bah inside the area, and the referee pointed to the spot and dismissed the Haverfordwest defender as he picked up his second yellow card.
From the spot, Grech sent Rees the wrong way to level matters.
After the break, Haverfordwest almost levelled matters when, from a well-worked set-piece, Hawkins squared the ball into the path of Ahmun, who saw his shot coming off the upright.
Floriana responded with an effort from Federico Varela, which, however, didn’t trouble the Haverfordwest County goalkeeper.
On 56 minutes, Gliskovic should have put Floriana in front when the Serbian received an inviting ball from Grech, but fired wide with only Reese to beat.
Floriana remained on top, and on 63 minutes Gonzalo Gamarra’s inswinger flew over the bar.
But that little mattered, as four minutes later, Floriana sealed their place in the next round.
Charles M’Mombwa showed all his attack instincts when he latched onto Jake Grech’s throughball and beat his marker with a clever shimmy before firing the ball into the roof of the net.
Haverfordwest kept fighting, and Cioletti needed to dive to his right to keep out Owain Jones’ shot.
