First Division
Maronites 3 Olympia 2
Maronites pulled off their first win of the season after gradually improving week by week. It has been tough for them after struggling at the beginning of the season after the tragic loss of their player Michael Tzouvanni.
They started the game as underdogs and it did not help that they had five players missing through injury Jo and Franco Tzouvanni, Dino Costa, Dimitri Kalli, Mike Anastasiou, Tom Boxer, and Kyri Georgallou and they even had outfield player Simi Kouttis in goal. This seemed to motivate the team, in fact this team represents an old saying when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Olympia took the lead with their striker Sam after fifteen minutes Maronites equalised in the 30th minute with a goal from Tyler Barclay who then took the lead in the 50th minute with an absolute screamer from Lewis Barclay and Olympia equalised in the 75th minute with a brilliant long distance shot goal from George Constantinou. Maronites weren’t going to hold out for a draw and battled for a winner and deservedly got it with a well taken goal by Marcus Archer.
Brotherhood 1 Apoel 3
Apoel are still chasing New Salamis for the title with a comfortable win over Brotherhood 3-1 leaving them in second place to the red’s level on points but with an inferior goal average.
Brotherhood at the same time need to win games to stay up in the first division especially now AEL have found form.
Apoel were well in command leading three nil with goals from Andreas Stylianou, Vas Krisikos and Jason Mason before Brotherhood scored in the 75th minute with a goal from their super striker Aaron Kennedy.
New Salamis 3 Tripimeni 1
New Salamis were really under pressure to win this game after two consecutive cup defeats in just as many weeks. So they must really feel relieved to have come away with a win. This game was not easy Tripimeni were really up for it, the terrible pitch conditions did not help.
New Salamis took the lead just before the break with a goal from Leon McKenzie. Tripimeni fought back with an equaliser from Darren Gray which seemed to motivate the Tripimeni team and seem to battle to try and get on top and at this stage Tripimeni’s Ahmet Rifat hit the post.
Then in the 60th minute Charlie Kanari pulled down New Salamis striker Deniz Mehmet to give a penalty away and as a last man was sent off as a result. Richard Georgiou stepped up to score making it 2-1.
New Salamis eventually secured their win with an 80th minute goal from striker Deniz Mehmet. This win secures New Salamis top spot with same points a better goal average than second placed Apoel.
Rizokarpasso 0 AEL 2
This win was a shock win for AEL beating the challenge cup holders Rizokarpasso lifting them out of the relegation zone. It should not be surprising really because AEL have now found form they defeated champions New Salamis last week.
Rizokarpasso have suffered three defeats on the trot to Livadia in the cup to Apoel and now AEL so they really must up their performances. They started off as one of the brightest hopes in the League and I’m sure they are capable of winning more games.
Ael’s goals came in the 65th minute from top goal scorer Danny Vearer who chested Michael Stavrou’s cross and volleyed it in one movement a great goal. and in the 75th minute from Onique.
Second Division
Livadia 4 Asha 0
Livadia started strong and within 20 minutes a fine individual goal by Adem Ali made it 1-0. Livadia missed chances and stayed 1-0 up at half time. In the second half Livadia scored from a corner with a tap in goal from their captain Richard Strickland in 60th minute. Livadia keeper Andreas Kyprianou then found Adem Ali with a goal kick who fired a 30 yard volley into the top corner to make 3-0. Again Livadia pushed on and this time it was Elia Katsoloudi who scored direct from a free kick from 25 yards out and found the top corner making it 4-0 with 15 minutes to play.
Komi Kebir 2 Pendayia 1
Komi Kebir and Pendayia had an early start on Sunday with both coming into the game on very different runs of form. Komi were riding a 6 game unbeaten run that has seen them burst into the promotion places and Pendayia are on a 5 game losing streak that has seen them crash out of both the divisional cup and the LFA Intermediate Cup in recent weeks.
Despite their poor run of form Pendayia came out of the gates flying and were rewarded in the first 5 minutes when Kyri Christofi was brought down in the box and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. However the normally reliable Vas Nicou saw his penalty fly over the bar to keep the game at 0-0. Both teams had their share of possession and chances but it was the home team that broke the deadlock as Chris Ierotheou made a run through the middle and clipped the ball home. Once again the teams exchanged chances but Komi doubled their lead when Mario Seyho slotted the ball home after his initial shot hit the cross bar and rebounded right back to his feet.
The second half saw Pendayia come out flying once again and despite both teams having a handful of half chances the visitors got the third goal of the game when a good run from Chris Andrea fell to Kyri Christofi and he dinked the ball over the goalkeeper.
Although Pendayia continued to play some good football and fought to break down the Komi backline, they could not find that elusive equaliser.
Anorthosis 2 Pantel 4
Pantel got off to a good start to continue their fine recent form and were 2-0 up within ten minutes with two goals from Alex. Anorthosis battled and got one back with Danny Coolridge who then also equalised for Anorthosis in the 60th minute. Pantel then upped their tempo and were able to get two more goals with Andrew and James to make them 4-2 victors.
Cyprus Youth 2 Arachne 0
Cyprus are back fighting for promotion again with a win over second in the table Arachne.
The goal hero was Chris Papacosta who scored both goals which were both set up by Jayson Sinclair. The first goal came after 30 minutes and the second goal after 80 minutes. Cyprus Youth controlled the first half, but Arachne tried coming back into the game with several attempts on goal that sparked off a brilliant performance from the Cyprus Youth goal keeper Max Papacosta and Arachne even hit the bar from five yards but then had a man sent off and they never really recovered from that set back. Cyprus Youth killed off the game after Jayson twisted and turned and cut it back across goal for Chris Papacosta to calmly stroke the ball home.
Achna 1 Omonia 6
Omonia went goal crazy in their win over bottom of the table Achna with six of the best their six goals coming from Adrian Campbell 2, Marcelo, Stavros, Costa and Charalambous.
Omonia are now finding their feet again and maybe with a few wins they could be in the promotion race.
LFA Intermediate Cup
Quarter Final
Lord Stanley FC 2 Cetinkaya Cinar 2 (Cetinkaya Cinar won on penalties).
Cetinkaya Cinar won 3-2 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in extra time. A highly competitive game marred by the injury to Cetinkaya Cinar player Abdeslam El-Habassi. It took 1 hour for the ambulance to arrive. A marvelous win as Cinar had 3 regular players missing for the game. They will now be playing Shoots & Leaves in the semi’s this week.
League Tables
