Floriana come from behind to defeat Haverfordwest in Conference League first leg

Floriana overturned a first-half deficit to secure a 2-1 win over Welsh side Haverfordwest County in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round, played at home.

The visitors had taken the lead after 27 minutes through Ben Ahmun, but Floriana struck back just before half-time and found the winner on the hour mark from the penalty spot.

Awaiting the winner of this tie in the second qualifying round are Ballkani of Kosovo, who knocked out Ħamrun Spartans at the same stage last season. The second leg will take place on July 17.

Floriana’s new coach Daniel Portela gave debuts to five summer signings: goalkeeper Guilherme Cioletti, Lucas Lopez, Iago Mendonça, Charles M’Mombwa, and Federico Varela. Also starting was Mattia Veselji, who returned to the club following a stint in Serbia.

Haverfordwest started strongly, with Rhys Abbruzzese sending in an early cross that found Ricky Watts, who set up Ahmun for a shot that narrowly missed. Floriana responded with a Jake Grech attempt on 14 minutes following a free kick by Gamarra, but it too went just wide.

The breakthrough came on 27 minutes when Daniel Hawkins delivered a cross from the right, and Ahmun beat Cioletti with a precise header to give the visitors the lead.

Floriana nearly equalised through Dunstan Vella, who was set up by Grech, but his effort sailed over. The equaliser did arrive on 42 minutes when Varela sent in a well-placed cross for Gamarra to head past Luc Rees.

Shortly after the break, Greg Walters tested Cioletti with an angled drive, but the Floriana keeper was alert to the danger.

The decisive moment came on 59 minutes. Alaric Jones was judged to have pushed Lucas Lopez inside the box, and Grech stepped up to score from the penalty spot.

The goal boosted Floriana’s momentum, although Haverfordwest pushed forward in the closing stages. In the 83rd minute, Grech had a low effort cleared off the line after good work from Varela, and a minute later, his corner was dealt with by the Haverfordwest keeper.

Floriana 2
Gamarra 42, Grech 59 (pen)

Haverfordwest 1
Ahmun 27

Referee: Szabolcs Kovacs (Romania)

Line-ups
Floriana: G. Cioletti, L. Lopez, J. Grech, F. Varela, D. Vella, M. Jah, C. M’Mombwa, G. Gamarra, I. Mendonça, M. Veselji (69’ T. Glisovic), A. Garzia.
Haverfordwest: L. Rees, D. Rees, R. Abbruzzese, A. Jones (70’ E. Scotcher), R. Watts, C. Shepard, B. Fawcett, D. Hawkins, K. McCarthy, G. Walters, B. Ahmun (77’ O. Jones).