On occasion, a draw is a beautiful thing. Ghajnsielem F.C.’s 2-2 draw against Victoria Hotspurs is a case in point. The Blacks twice fought back to cancel a Hotspurs lead, the second time with the 90th minute fast approaching. Judging from the jubilation of the Ghajnsielem fans in attendance and the roar upon the referee’s final whistle this must have felt like a win.

It is arguable that avoiding defeat was Ghajnsielem’s major objective today. The prudence was reflected in the player selection, team formation and the ambition displayed by the players during those stretches when the score was level.

Ghajnsielem started with Joseph Grech in goal. In front of him they had Ferdinand Apap playing as a libero. Martin Cremona and Glenn Cefai were brought into the side to mark Hotspurs’ front duo Nkwankwo Chidi Eric and Ochenna Anyanwu man to man. Robert Grima and Brian Meilak played wide left and right respectively. Joseph Buttigieg joined Franklee Galea in midfield. Stefan Azzopardi and Rodrigo Cariago hovered between the holding midfielders and the lone striker Thiago dos Santos. This had the looks of an ultra conservative line-up and tactical formation. It all depended on how the players interpreted their roles.

In the opening exchanges, Ghajnsielem were cautious. But they were not the only ones that were cagey about exposing their goal. In fact, aside from a shot from distance that caught Joseph Grech too much out of his goal but which came back off the bar and a Martin Cremona header that went wide, there was barely any action worthy of note in the first half hour. Interestingly, however, as time went by Hotspurs seemed to sense Ghajnsielem’s wariness about committing men forward and anxiety when in possession of the ball, and this signalled to them that it was incumbent upon them to take the initiative and look for the first goal.

When Hotspurs scored just past the half hour no one was shocked. What was surprising was the manner in which they scored. Hotspurs’ right full back smashed an accurate shot from the long distance that overpowered Grech in Ghajnsielem’s goal. In hindsight it made sense that the Reds would make the breakthrough in this fashion—there simply was no way through in Ghajnsielem’s crowded penalty area.

Ghajnsielem did not change shape in reaction to these developments even though Hotspurs withdrew in numbers to defend their lead. The Blacks too had trouble releasing the dangerous dos Santos, so they had to test Mark Grima from long range. Grima, however, is a solid goalkeeper and he was not about to be caught off guard. In consecutive minutes he turned two venomous drives, one by Cremona, the other by Cariaga, to a corner.

The first half came to an end and the first eleven had acquitted themselves reasonably well. There were some irritants such as the goal-kicks going straight into touch, experienced players getting caught in possession, but nothing major, aside from the goal happened. Cremona showed surprising good form given his long period of inactivity. He made several difficult clearances and never looked off pace. Cefai has a knack of emerging from 50-50 or less situations with ball at his feet. Franklee Galea seems to have accepted with enthusiasm the roll of fixer in midfield: when a situation develops, he appears on the scene in no time to mop things up. Robert Grima is growing in confidence and this showed on more than one occasion especially when he forced his opponent to commit to the tackle before turning away and releasing the ball to a free team-mate.

All positive stuff but the supporters could not imagine where a goal would come from, and they could not be blamed for quietly contemplating possible changes that would achieve this end during the half-time break. Rodrigo Cariaga, however, conjured a killer cross out of nothing eight minutes into the second half and Thiago dos Santos who was waiting on Grima’s blind side squeezed a header between goalkeeper and goalpost and wheeled away to celebrate his goal.

Victoria Hotspurs were taken aback by this and found it difficult to respond. The passage of time and the expenditure of energy that goes with it favoured the Reds. The teams became stretched. Ghajnsielem’s midfielders were scattered with the result that they were neither supporting dos Santos and Cariaga up front, nor shielding the trio of Apap-Cremona-Cefai at the back. This was not a promising situation for the Blacks. The alarm bells should have gone off when just past the hour, Hotspurs’ front pair waltzed around Ghajnsielem’s central defenders only for Grech to come to the rescue blocking with his body to a corner. Eleven minutes from time a through pass released one of Hotspurs’front pair, Grech rushed out of his goal and watched the ball getting lobbed over him into an empty net.

Wearing the much likelier vertically striped black and white shirts with black shorts, Ghajnsielem rolled up their sleeves and looked for an equalizer. Apap was pushed forward to midfield. Joseph Attard, who had replaced Azzopardi provided dos Santos with company up front. David Debattista came on for the exhausted Galea. Ghajnsielem laid siege on Grima’s goal. They did not find much joy in their forays mostly because they insisted upon taking rushed shots from distance (Meilak, Buttigieg, Cariaga and Galea) or lofting high balls Grima’s way. The Hotspurs’ keeper does have a weakness or two here and there but dealing with crosses sent from three quarters inside the Hotspurs’ half towards the penalty spot is not one of them. He snatched each of these high balls, and there were many, with great assurance. Finally, one of these crosses drifted over Grima towards his far post. This time he had to palm it behind for a corner. He was tested low as well, by dos Santos who shot at the near post from the edge of the box. Grima was catlike in his reflexes and he saved to a corner.

With time running out, an Ghajnsielem attack from a corner seemed to have broken down, especially after Apap had pushed Cariaga too wide with his pass. The Argentinean sent the ball across goal the best way he could. One or two deflections later the ball was behind Grima for the definitive equalizer.

30 Joseph Grech, 2 Robert Grima 3 Ferdinand Apap, 5 Rodrigo Cariaga, 6 Joseph Buttigieg (c), 7 Brian Meilak, 15 Martin Cremona, 17 Stefan Azzopardi (Joseph Attard), 18 Thiago dos Santos, 19 Glenn Cefai, 20 Franklee Galea (4 David Debattista).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant