Maltese players continue to impress

Etienne Barbara of Carolina RailHawks and Andre Schembri of Ferencvaros continued to impress during the weekend with the two strikers notching a brace.

In the North American Soccer League, Etienne Barbara, who was voted NASL Player of the Month for April, scored twice in a 3-1 win away from home for Carolina RailHawks over Tampa Bay on Sunday. A win which puts the RailHawks on top, on level points with Puerto Rico Islanders.

The former Sliema striker was voted NASL Week 5 Offensive Player of the Week.

On Thursday, Barbara was again on target as he scored the second goal in a 4-2 win over Fort Lauderdale Strikers. This was his seventh goal in six matches.

In Hungary, Andre Schembri scored twice in a 4-4 draw between Ferencváros and Zalaegerszegi TE on Tuesday. Fradi were trailing 1-4 at the end of the first half but made a remarkable comeback after the break to earn a most precious point which keeps them in third place, one point ahead of Debrecen and two ahead of Zalaegerszegi TE. On Saturday, Schembri scored another goal in a 3-2 win away from home over bottom-placed Szolnoki MÁV.

Malta goalkeeper Justin Haber played these two matches, putting up another fine performance especially on Saturday.

In England, the future of Malta international striker Daniel Bogdanovic is not clear after Sheffield United were relegated from the Championship to League 1. The club has sacked manager Micky Adams while chief executive Trevor Birch has stepped down.