Determined Greens spoil Valletta's unbeaten start

FLORIANA-2, VALLETTA-0 Floriana gained a much-needed boost after beating champions Valletta 2-0 in the first derby of the 2016/17 season. Although Valletta saw more of the ball, Floriana deserved their win as they were the most determined and hard-working team, defending well and breaking forward on the counter. The win was Floriana's first after successive defeats to Balzan and Tarxien Rainbows while Valletta suffered their first lost of the season. The first half was tight with Valletta enjoying more possession early only for Floriana to come more into the picture as the game progressed. On 26 minutes, Valletta midfielder Llywelyn Cremona guided the ball to the sprinting Ryan Camilleri on the right wing but the latter elected to shoot instead of running into the box. His long-range effort was off target. It was Floriana who struck two minutes past the half-hour. Valletta failed to clear a diagonal pass by Alex Cini and Samb profited to fire a powerful shot that beat Henry Bonello at his near post. The Greens were dangerous every time they pushed forward.. Five minutes from half-time, Samb held off Steve Borg before cutting the ball back to Steve Pisani whose close-range strike...