First Division
Surprisingly most of the fixtures took place over the weekend even after Saturday’s downpour and there was plenty of action for all the supporters to enjoy.
Apoel 4 Tripimeni 1
The top of the table clash in the First Division was the first to kick off at 10am at Bullsmoor Lane and it was a delight for the several spectators who watched.
There was end to end action with Apoel breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute with a burst from their forward Vaso who finished the move with a well taken goal.
Within minutes Apoel had a close shave when Ricky Lucas shot past the oncoming Apoel keeper Darren Behcet but the ball was kicked off the line by Apoel defender Theo Daniels. Tripimeni started pressurising and were rewarded with an equalising own goal making it 1-1.
Five minutes before half time Apoel player Kyri made a run ending with him passing to Andreas Hadjizeniou who calmly stroked the ball into the back of the net taking Apoel 2-1up into the break.
The second half led Tripimeni to come out full speed to try and get back into the game but Apoel twice on the counter attack capitalised with their goals coming from Luke David and Jason Mason.
This win takes Apoel back to the top of the first division three points above Tripimeni.
Brotherhood 1 Rizokarpasso 4
Again Brotherhood led in the early minutes as in most previous games with a goal from Christopher Antoni but as before could not hold onto the lead.
This seem to motivate Rizokarpasso who came back to win 4-1 with goals from Tony Ponnou, Leon Semper, Anthony Macdonald and Jeff Hammond.
This win lifts Rizokarpasso into fifth place in the first division league table.
AEL 2 Olympia 5
Olympia climbed to third place in their game versus AEL in which they won 5-2 but it was not an easy game for Olympia. They were winning from the 5th minute with a goal from Sam Donohue and finished half time 1-0 up. The second half began with Olympia increasing their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Justin Zacharia.
In the 60th and 62nd minute AEL surprised Olympia and equalised with two goals from their star striker Danny Vearer.
Olympia didn’t stand back and fought to score a further two goals in the 70th and 80th minutes with goals from Sam Donohue and Justin Zacharia respectively.
To seal it Sam scored the fifth to give him a well deserved hat trick and a 5-2 win for Olympia.
Second Division
Cyprus Youth (KLN) 3 Livadia 1
What a great advertisement for second division football this game was between the two top teams in the second division, excitement right through the game. It began with a penalty awarded to Livadia within three minutes which was saved by the KLN keeper.
The goal of the match was scored in the 20th minute when Adem Ali scored a curling shot from outside the box right into the top right hand corner of the goal. On the stroke of half time Cyprus Youth equalised when the Livadia keeper failed to hold onto a free kick as a result Rio headed into the empty Livadia goal making it 1-1 half time.
The second half was tight until the Livadia goalkeeper was sent off for bringing down the KLN striker; Andreas Koupas made it 2-1from the penalty. In the last few minutes of the game replacement keeper Andrea Kyprianou went up for the last free kick of the game but the ball broke through for Cyprus Youth striker Richard Takkou to score in an empty Livadia goal. This win keeps Cyprus Youth on top of the second division.
Asha 1 Pendayia 2
Despite their good start to the season, Divison 2 new boys Asha have dropped off in recent weeks and were in for a tough game this Sunday against Pendayia who were coming off a 4-1 victory over Komi Kebir just last week.
Despite the wind, both teams had a number of chances in the first half and the first goal in the came when Asha were awarded a questionable penalty. Despite Pendayia goalkeeper George Georgiou saving well to his right, Asha were quickest onto the ball from the rebound and Andreas Tziallis poke it in. Pendayia pushed hard for the equaliser and were rewarded when a well taken corner from the right from Theo Vassilou was headed in by Sami Menari for his second goal in as many weeks.
Asha came out positively in the second half and both teams had a number of chances to go ahead, but some good saves for Pendayia goalkeeper George Georgiou and the Asha crossbar that kept out a good Steph Tsirpis shot, prevented both teams from taking the lead.
The winning goal came when a long ball from the back from Tabby Constantinou was met by Jordan Shaw who stroked the ball home from 8 yards out to see Pendayia take 2 wins out of 2 in Division 2 in November. This win lifts Pendayia to fourth place.
Arachne 3 Omonia 1
Arachne are flying high they’re improving week by week and this win takes them to second place three points behind Cyprus Youth. Arachne led from the 15th minute with a goal from Leo .Yet Omonia equalised in this game from the 35th minute with a goal from Alex Anderson.
Anthony Panayi scored for Arachne in the 45th minute and it looked like it was going to end in a draw before the super striker Leo scored ta third goal fror Arachne in the dying minutes to ensure victory
LFA Junior Cup
3rd Round
Maronites 4 Pantel 4 (Maronites won 5-4 after extra time)
What a LFA cup tie this was two KOPA League clubs playing against each other. Pantel took the lead in the 30th minute with a goal from Roland Maronites equalised with a goal from Dino Costa in the last minute of half time. After the break Tyler Barclay made it 2-1 to the Maronites Pantel then equalised with a goal from Jamy. Maronites were then awarded a penalty which Lewis Barclay converted making it 3-2 but they could not hold on to their lead for long and a goal from Pantel’s striker Larry made it 3-3. There was more action to come. In the 86th minute Tyler scored to make it 4-3 but Pantel scored in the last minute with Emerson to take the game into extra time where Lewis Barclay scored in the 106th minute to give Maronites a win into the fourth round of the LFA Junior Cup.