It was a great and a sad day for KOPA on Sunday. You had four teams battling to stay in the first division with AEL needing one point or Omonia beating Dynamo to stay up. Dynamo needed to beat Omonia and for AEL to lose to Tripimeni to stay up. Brotherhood needed to beat Aradippou to stay up or draw and hope that Omonia and Dynamo draw. For Omonia to stay up they needed to beat Dynamo and Brotherhood to lose or draw with Aradippou.
The results went Brotherhood 6 Aradippou 0, Omonia 2 Dynamo 4, Tripimeni 2 AEL 2 as a result Dynamo and Omonia were relegated with Aradippou. I’m sure these three teams will be back in the premiership they put on a good show and it shows how competitive this first division was this season. Taking their place will be Apoel, Olympia and Maronites.
First Division
Panthea 1 New Salamis 8: Champions New Salamis went crazy and scored plenty of goals keeping their unbeaten record intact. Their goals came from hit man Kyri Portou 4, Charles Georgiou 3 and David Hicks. Panthea’s lone goal came in the 60th minute from Nick Salapatas. New Salamis Douggie Morton missed a penalty in the 89th minute.
Brotherhood 6 Aradippou 0: Brotherhood finished the season in winning fashion and saving themselves from relegation with a 6-0 win over relegated bottom team Aradippou with their goals coming from Aaron Kennedy 2, Jamie Mcsherry, Paul Yiannakas, Anthony Lingis and Dino Georgiou.
Rizokarpasso 2 Cetinkaya Cinar 2: With both teams still challenging for the KOPA cups Cetinkaya Cinar took the lead from the first minute with Abdeslam El Habassi Rizo equalised in the 30th minute with Harry Vazanias and Salih Karakis scored a second for Cetinkaya Cinar in the 70th minute before Rizokarpasso equalised again in the 75th minute with a goal from Tony Ponnou making it 2-2.
Omonia 2 Dynamo 4: It must be disappointing for Dynamo winning and still getting relegated. They took the lead in the 35th minute with Alex Violaris then Vasos equalised in the 40th minute for Omonia before Dynamo scored just before the break with Yianni to make it 2-1 half time. Omonia equalised just after the break with Antonis Aristotelous. George Tzima and Anthony Macdonald increased their lead to 4-2 giving Dynamo a comfortable win but having to wait anxiously to hear the other results.
Tripimeni 2 AEL 2: AEL saved themselves from relegation by the skin of their teeth they were leading 2-0 within 15 minutes with goals from Shaun Williams and George Michael and got worried when Tripimeni put up a late come back fight with two goals coming from Alex Roussis in the 44th and 75th minutes for the game to end 2-2.
Second Division
Apoel 3 Anorthosis 0: Apoel champions spoilt any chance that Anorthosis had of promotion with this 3-0 win. Apoel were leading 1-0 half time with a good strike from Aristos Aristotelous and were cruising in the second half and were able to increase their lead with goals from Alex Charalambous and Richard Worrall to give them a deserved 3-0 win.
Komi Kebir 0 Olympia 2: Second Division runners up Olympia came out deserved winners against greatly improved Komi Kebir with their goals coming from Vince Rispoli and Ian Kafour.
KLN 0 Maronites 1: What a vast improvement KLN have made they gave Maronites a tough game but could not stop Maronites in their winning tracks and ensuring that they got promoted. The lone Maronite’s goal came from Adem Ali in the 20th minute.
Pantel 2 Pendayia 2: In a preview of next week’s divisional cup quarter final, Pendayia and Pantel shared the points . Pantel came out the quicker of the two teams and were ahead early when Israel volleyed home from close range. The home team continued to push forward and got a second when a cross from the right was headed in by Barry. Pendayia scored just before the break with Sotiris Vassiliou. In the 70th minute Chris Andrea forced the Pantel keeper into making a bad kick which landed at the feet of Jordan Shaw who was able to slot the ball into the empty net fpr Pendayia’s equaliser. Both teams continued to push for a winner but the game ended in a draw, which sets the stage for a great game next week.