Għajnsielem F.C.
were seconds away from bidding
farewell to the 2009/10 league
championship. A corner from the
Blacks' left conceded by S.K.
Victoria Wanderers following an
inswinging free-kick struck by
Alex Simoncic, was cleared
towards Ferdinando Apap. The
young Blacks defender calmly
controlled the ball and hit it
hard and low into the Wanderers'
net for the 3-2 winner. This was
deep into injury time. Referee
Paul Apap blew the final whistle
soon after the restart. One felt
that the Blacks had blown their
chance of winning this match one
or two minutes before this goal,
when Thiago dos Santos
controlled the ball inside the
Wanderers' penalty area and shot
weakly at the Wanderers'
goalkeeper, Adrian Parnis, from point blank
range. The Blacks, however,
persisted and were rewarded for
their efforts with Apap's last
gasp winner.
The Blacks thought that they
were home and dry at the end of
regular time, when they were
leading 2-1. Although, S.K.
Victoria Wanderers were working
hard for an equalizer, one way
or the other Għajnsielem's
defence was holding up well.
Although the Wanderers' last
desperate attempts were expected
to cause anxiety at the back,
their forwards were not sharp
enough on the day and so the
prospects were good that the
Blacks would survive the extra
time. Then the Blacks conceded a
corner-kick. All of the
Wanderers' tall players poured
into the penalty area. To the
Blacks' dismay Ige
Adesina
forced the ball past Joseph
Grech and into the net for the
2-2.
At this point, the Blacks'
second half efforts to turn a
half-time deficit into a narrow
2-1 lead were quickly forgotten
and the generally disappointing
performance came back in the
forefront of every one's mind.
One could not help feeling that
perhaps the Blacks did not
deserve any better. Fortunately,
the eleven men that mattered
were not troubled by such
thoughts and in time added on
for time wasted in added time
the Blacks created three scoring
chances and converted the last
one to win the match and keep
the dream alive.
There were two things that were
especially troubling about the
Blacks today. The first one was
the 4-3-3 starting formation and
the role assisgnment within that
set-up. The second was the
lethargic effort put in by most
of the players. Only the
participants know whether one
(the 4-3-3) had anything to do
with the other (the lethargy).
It is not clear whether the
three-pronged attack was
introduced as a measure to deal
with the day's opponents or
whether it was introduced in
response to the defeat against
Xewkija. Kenneth Mercieca was
deployed as the spearhead with
dos Santos wide left and Joseph
Attard wide right. Mercieca was
engulfed by Mark Buttigieg and
he looked out of his depths as a
centre-forward. Dos Santos found
it hard to hide his frustration
on the left and seemed to be
playing on a work to rule basis.
Attard was the most useful of
the three.
Indeed, Attard started the move
that nearly led to an
Għajnsielem goal nine minutes
into the match. He released
Franklee Galea down the right.
Galea played the ball to
Mercieca. Rodrigo Cariaga's shot
from Mercieca's back pass was
tipped over by the Wanderers'
goalkeeper. Stefan Azzopardi,
who kept his place in the side
but as an unlikely right
full-back in place of Brian
Meilak who started on the bench,
acquitted himself well. Although
he was vulnerable to the fast
Wanderers' forwards, he managed
to contain them well whenever
they attacked down the right
channel. As usual, Azzopardi was
cool in possession and rarely
gave the ball away.
Franklee Galea and Rodrigo
Cariaga flanked Alex Simoncic in
midfield. With one less man in
midfield the Blacks had to toil
harder in this department. They
seemed outnumbered, always
rushed when in possession and as
a result they failed to produce
any of the good football that
they had produced against Kerċem
Ajax and for long stretches
against Xewkija Tigers.
Simoncic, in particular, seemed
stifled by the Wanderers'
immediate pressing. Although the
Blacks had three men up front
Simoncic did not seem to have
many options every time he
looked up to unleash one of his
typical diagonal through balls.
Simoncic too tested the
Wanderers goalkeeper early with
a shot from outside the area,
which was turned to a corner.
Cariaga also tried his luck but
his shot was weak and was easily
saved.
Judging by the effort put in by
the Blacks in the first half one
would never have concluded that
the Blacks considered themselves
still in contention for honours
this season. With one or two
exceptions they did not seem to
have the legs for the fight. The
quality of the passing was at
times very poor. What saved the
Blacks was that S.K. Victoria
Wanderers were not in their best
form. The team from Victoria
failed to punish the Blacks
following all their giveaways
and did not seem to sense that
with a little attention they
could bury them before the
half-time whistle. When the
Wanderers finally took the lead
it happened during one of the
many instances that the Blacks
seemed switched off in this
match. In the 37th minute
Għajnsielem committed a foul in
their own half just across the
half way line. Instead, of
organizing at the back and
subtly blocking the path to goal
with a man close to the dead
ball, the Blacks' minds wandered
off and the Wanderers played a
quick ball to Ajibade
Adesina
who broke away all
alone on Joseph Grech and beat
him easily. Grech had alertly
rushed off his line to save from
the same player on a similar
breakaway as early as the 15th
minute. The Blacks were not as
lucky this time and to their
disbelief they were one goal
down.
The sad part about this
development is that it occurred
near a patch during which the
Blacks seemed to be coming to
life. Dos Santos crossed towards
Attard, who played the ball to
Galea. The latter's shot
whistled wide of the far post.
Mercieca could have scored on
two separate occasions but saw
the goalkeeper block his shots,
the latter following more good
work from Attard and Galea. The
Wanderers scraped Grech's
crossbar on the stroke of
half-time, a two-goal deficit
would have been too harsh on the
Blacks.
The sight of Kenneth Mercieca
jogging towards his office, on
the left of midfield, in
preparation for the second half
restart was a signal that the 45
minutes long experiment had been
called off. Brian Meilak was
brought on later in the second
half.
It is ironic that the Blacks
looked to redress a 0-1 deficit
by going from 4-3-3 (an
aggressive formation) to 4-4-2
(a more conservative formation)
and by replacing one defender
(Azzopardi), with another
(Meilak). It was hardly
surprising that Għajnsielem
looked better and played better
in the second half. They assumed
the attitude of a team that did
not stand the idea of losing.
Cariaga crossed from the right
towards dos Santos who headed
back across goal to Attard.
Instead of shooting at goal, the
forward played the ball softly
towards Galea. The latter shot
first time. It was a difficult
attempt, Galea made poor contact
and the ball went astray. Joseph
Buttigieg, who as early as the
first half tried to restore some
order amid the general
confusion, continued with his
efforts and played a deep ball
towards dos Santos. The
Brazilian's header went wide.
Cariaga tested the Wanderers
with another second post cross.
Once again dos Santos headed the
ball across goal, but neither
Attard nor Mercieca were close
enough to turn the ball in.
Simoncic directed a diagonal
free-kick towards dos Santos.
His header across goal caught
Attard unprepared and the
Wanderers cleared. In the 63rd
minute Cariaga served dos Santos
inside the penalty area. The
striker turned clear of his
marker and shot into the net for
the equalizer. This goal brought
the Blacks' supporters to life.
Until that time they sat and
witnessed the spectacle in
stunned silence.
The Blacks did not stop until
they scored the go-ahead goal,
when in an attempt to clear the
ball from Mercieca, who was
about to push the ball across
the line, Mark Buttigieg put the
ball in his own goal. Dos Santos
had rushed his shot moments
earlier and the ball flew just
past the top corner of the
Wanderers' goal. S.K. Victoria
Wanderers nearly drew level
following quick breaks with the
ball bouncing favourably their
way off Għajnsielem defenders
but Grech was quick to
neutralize their attempts. Here
it should be noted that the play
of veteran Martin Cremona was
crucial in keeping the Blacks in
the game. Ferdinando Apap, who
made an erratic start to the
match with two or three wild
clearances, settled down and
contributed with tenacious
defending and a goal-line
clearance in the second half.
The Blacks could have made sure
by converting on one of their
chances in the last quarter of
the match. An indirect free-kick
worked between Simoncic and dos
Santos saw the latter shoot just
wide. Attard, Cariaga, Mercieca
and the same dos Santos created
a number of half chances but
they kept shooting the ball wide
of goal. Glenn Cefai was
introduced late in the match. He
took position in central
defence. The energetic Apap
stepped up to buttress midfield.
The Blacks held on well, were
nearly undone by the late
equalizer, but showed great
spirit to win the match in
heart-stopping fashion.
