With just over a quarter of an hour left in the match, Ghajnsielem looked headed towards defeat at the hands of reigning champions, Sannat Lions. Thiago dos Santos beat the Lions’ defence on the right. He crossed the ball low and hard but a Sannat defender intercepted and cleared the ball away. Rodrigo Cariaga shot towards goal, forcing Paul Galea into a two handed clearance. Brian Meilak, who had pressed forward in support, volleyed the ball hard off the Sannat turf past Galea for the equalizer.

In the closing stages of this match we saw some frantic end to end action that left the supporters hoping for the winner one moment, praying for a draw the next. Meilak, energized by his goal, went round his marker on the right bye-line, sped towards the penalty area. He then saw his low, hard drive skid past Galea’s far post.

Ghajnsielem survived more than one anxious moment involving the dangerous John Camilleri and Fernando de Andrade. With ten minutes to go they countered with dos Santos down the left. He steered directly towards Galea but was stopped by a desperate lunge from a Sannat defender. The Blacks clamoured for a penalty, but the referee would not have any of it. Dos Santos and Joseph Attard combined near the edge of the Sannat penalty area, but instead of shooting dos Santos tried to send Attard through, but the ball was struck too hard and Sannat cleared.

The final whistle was greeted with a degree of relief by the Ghajnsielem supporters who, for long stretches in the second half saw their team finding it hard to create anything substantial that might trouble Sannat, and looked like they would concede on one of Sannat’s fast breaks. This was in stark contrast to the first half, during which Ghajnsielem created three or four clear scoring opportunities and manufactured several other half chances.

The Blacks welcomed back to the starting line their regular goalkeeper Joseph Grech. They also gave new signing Glenn Cefai his debut. The ex-Qala St. Joseph central defender lined up alongside this season’s revelation Ferdinand Apap in the heart of Ghajnsielem’s defence. The two played well together, and there will be great expectations regarding their performance in future outings after they develop a better understanding of each other.

Apap and Cefai made several important interventions that snuffed out Sannat attacks, including two decisive ones, one in each half. Apap cleared the ball off the line with Grech beaten twenty minutes into the match. Cefai made a goalmouth clearance during a particularly shaky period for the Blacks midway through the second half.

The full-backs were captain Joseph Buttigieg on the left, and Brian Meilak on the right. The versatility of these two players is routinely exploited by coach Alex Spiteri, and the two veterans never so much as complain. The all-round ability of these two players, however, suffers when they are confined to marking central defensive duties. Today Buttigieg participated regularly in the build-up and Meilak, even if with less abandon than in his younger days, attacked as much as he defended.

His first important contribution, however, was in defence when he reached in to clear from a Sannat striker who was bearing down on Grech. This occurred in the opening ten minutes during which the two teams were very guarded in their approach. Ghajnsielem’s only shot came from dos Santos who hit high over Galea. The Blacks’ other foray into Sannat’s penalty area involved Kenneth Mercieca who was judged to be offside. He had struck the ball wide of Galea.

This disappointing finish was a precursor to Ghajnsielem’s best scoring chance of the first half. Errol Grima penetrated inside Sannat’s penalty area from the left. He cut the ball back hard and low. Mercieca’s first touch was sublime. It took him clear of Sannat’s central defenders. He was free, completely alone in front of Galea. Mercieca, aware of the ample time and space that his control had earned him, relaxed and Galea was at this stage in no man’s land and at his mercy. Mercieca, however, failed to crown this stellar work with a goal. His lob sailed agonizingly wide of Galea’s goal.

Joseph Attard, who had a quiet opening thirty minutes came to life when he was released inside the penalty area. A Sannat defender brushed past him and Attard fell down inside the penalty area. For the referee this was simulation and Attard was shown the yellow card. Attard then tried his luck from the left. He made his way inside the penalty area, backtracked on his steps to set up a right footed shot. But the ball cleared Galea’s bar.

Minutes later Joseph Grech grabbed a ball inside his penalty area, and instead of distributing short he launched a high ball towards the Sannat half. This caught the Lions’ defence napping. Dos Santos flicked on for Attard. The Blacks’ number nine should have done better than shoot just wide when all alone in front of Galea.

This left Ghajnsielem’s supporters glum over Attard’s wastefulness. The striker, however, redeemed himself when he broke through the right and delivered a measured low cross that dissected the Sannat defence, and found Kenneth Mercieca waiting at the second post to slot home. Mercieca connected well but Galea made a miraculous save. This happened in the 46th minute of the half. One minute earlier Galea had saved to a corner dos Santos’ short range shot blasted from a narrow angle.

Just as the referee was about to blow for the half-time whistle, Sabri Rais took full advantage of a moment of hesitation by the Blacks’ central defenders and gave Sannat the lead with low shot to the left of Grech.

Coming on the heel of so many Blacks attacks, this goal knocked the stuffing out of Ghajnsielem, and may account for the disappointing second half put together by the Blacks.

Although the strikers’ inaccuracy in front of goal explains on its own Ghjajnsielem’s problems today, it is the Blacks’ poor play in transition that is most worrisome in the long run. The Blacks found it hard to recycle the ball cleanly following the turnovers often caused by the industrious Franklee Galea and Rodrigo Cariaga. Time and time again, Sannat’s midfielders managed to intercept Ghajnsielem’s pass in transition, to start an attack of their own with Ghajnsielem wrong-footed. A little more attention to detail from Ghajnsielem would drastically cut down on these potentially deadly giveaways. The other downside of this failing is the poor service given to the forwards. As a matter of fact, some of Ghajnsielem’s best moments came from high balls over midfield straight to dos Santos, who was capable enough to hold off his marker, sometimes markers, and give the team a chance to move out of defence and in support.

With one match in the opening round remaining, Ghajnsielem seem to be in a decent position, third in the table, two points behind league leaders S.K. Victoria Wanderers and Nadur Youngsters, the two teams that have beaten the Blacks so far. Given the equilibrium that exists in the first division, Ghajnsielem need to approach with great care their match against Xewkija who are fresh from a victory over highly quoted Victoria Hotspurs. A victory would take them to the top or very near it, while a defeat would drag them in the mire of the lower regions of the division.

1 Joseph Grech, 3 Ferdinand Apap, 5 Rodrigo Cariaga, 6 Joseph Buttigieg (c), 7 Brian Meilak, 8 Kenneth Mercieca, 9 Joseph Attard (2 Robert Grima), 10 Errol Grima (4 David Debattista), 18 Thiago dos Santos, 19 Glenn Cefai, 20 Franklee Galea.

Referee: Gordon Barbara.