Għajnsielem F.C.
were three minutes away from
forcing a decider for the
2009/10 league championship.
Their defence, which had been
fantastic in repelling Victoria
Hotspurs' desperate attempts to
score the all-important
equalizer, was finally undone by
a deep cross to the second post.
The ball was not cleared and Uchenna Anyanwu
nodded the ball
past Joseph Grech from a narrow
angle and into the
net. The Blacks, reduced to ten
men after the dismissal of Brian
Meilak in the 73rd minute, could
find no way back. The referee's
final whistle left Victoria
Hotspurs three points ahead of
Għajnsielem in the league
standings and, therefore,
champions of the G.F.A. first
division.
Meilak was sent off following
his second booking. He earned
his first yellow card in the
first half when he stopped
Martin Hanus in a dangerous
Hotspurs counterattack. The
second yellow was a harsh one.
He instinctively handled the
ball as it was flicked by him
inside Hotspurs' half. Up to
that time the Reds had been
pressing for the equalizer but
Għajnsielem were comfortable in
neutralizing their efforts.
Indeed, the Blacks were finding
great gaps in the Hotspurs
rearguard and looked more likely
to score than the Reds. Reduced
to ten men Għajnsielem retreated
further in their own half and
their defending lost some of its
composure. Stefan Azzopardi came
on for Joseph Attard and took
Meilak's spot on the right of
Għajnsielem's defence. Rodrigo
Cariaga and Thiago dos Santos,
the two players who succeeded in
relieving the defence from some
of the pressure, now had to work
extra hard to take the ball out
of the Blacks' half and keep it
in the Hotspurs' half. They were
victims of unceremoneous
challenges by the Hotspurs
defenders. Fatally, the referee,
Marco Borg,
turned a blind eye to all of
this and Hotspurs countered
regularly against a shorthanded
Għajnsielem defense.
The referee was not in the mood
of granting Għajnsielem anything
this afternoon. Indeed, the
hapless Meilak thought he had
earned the Blacks a penalty as
early as the 5th minute of the
second half. He was brought down
in the Reds' penalty area
following a sweeping move from
left to right. Għajnsielem felt
that they had to score a second
to put Hotspurs away. Cariaga's
shot was spilled by Mark Grima,
but Attard was late on the scene
and Grima saved on his second
attempt. Grima failed to deal
with an Alex Simoncic corner but
retreated in time to collect
Meilak's volley.
Hotspurs, played like a team
under intense pressure, which is
normal, the title was theirs to
lose. They were tentative at the
back, and uncharacteristically
disposed of the ball upon any
sort of pressure from the
Blacks. Għajnsielem's fault
resides in the fact that they
failed to fully exploit this
weakness.
Aside from Cariaga and dos
Santos, Għajnsielem's forwards
were not lucid enough to make
the Reds pay for their fear of
throwing away a championship
they should have wrapped up long
ago. The Reds' three foreign
players, their spearhead, led by
Martin Hanus, were not weighed
down by such thoughts. They
looked like they could score at
any moment, and deep down every
level-headed Għajnsielem
supporter in the stands knew
this. One young supporter (and
future Black) could not bear to
watch. He spent the entire
second half sitting down, his
view blocked by the supporters.
At times he could be heard
muttering to himself, we need a second
goal.
David Debattista, Joseph
Buttigieg, Ferdinando Apap and
Martin Cremona were immense in
defence. They played their best
game of the season. A famous
last stand that deserved to be
rewarded by another goal or two
at the other end of the pitch
and immortalized with a win.
Cremona played ten years younger
than his age, this was a
performance that should keep him
in the team for at least another
season. He not only defended his
line well, he even attacked the
Reds in midfield, and beat them
again and again.
Apap played ten years older than
his age.
He dominated in the air, cleared
the ball solidly and put behind
him the erratic play that dotted
his recent performances. Captain
Joseph Buttigieg executed
numerous last-ditch tackles that
averted danger. He managed to do
this despite the fear of a
yellow card and automatic
suspension for an eventual
decider. Had David Debattista
been fit all season long, and
had he played as well as he did
today, this match would have
been to celebrate, rather than
to draw level with these Reds.
Għajnsielem conceeded twice as
many goals as the champions and
Debattista's absence and less
than perfect physical condition
cost the Blacks in terms of
goals and points conceded
earlier this season.
Joseph Grech, often maligned,
especially for his adventurous
lunges off his line (including
one in this match), handled
perfectly several deep Hotspurs
balls. His performance today was
inspirational. He saved
Għajnsielem fifteen minutes into
the second half when he blocked
twice from point blank range.
The start of the match was
delayed by over fifteen minutes.
This only served to build the
tension level. The two sets of
supporters, numerous, colourful
and loud on both sides of the
Gozo Stadium, could release the
pressure by shouting, clapping
and jumping, which they did.
Here one has to marvel at the
range of support enjoyed by the
Blacks. From the old, veterans
of the Club's glory days, and
witnesses of the historic June
8, 1974 decider that saw the
Blacks triumph over Victoria
Hotspurs with a late Frans Magro
goal and make history by
claiming their fifth consecutive
title, to the young, the future
of this Club, scores of them,
most of them players on the
Blacks' various boys' and girls'
teams. This experience will
stand the youngsters in good
stead, they will know when
one day they find themselves
standing between
the white lines what it means to
the people watching them, and
how important it is to give
absolutely everything for
Għajnsielem.
The two teams felt the occasion
and the early exchanges were
uneventful. In the 10th minute
dos Santos beat his man down the
right and released a thunderous
shot that forced Grima into a
difficult save. Apap nearly
scored from the corner.
Għajnsielem were the more
aggressive side in the first
half. Alex Simoncic, Joseph
Attard and Kenneth Mercieca in
particular made it clear to the
Reds that they meant business
this time. Across on the right,
Franklee Galea bravely tried to
overcome chronic hamstring
problems. Although he could not
shake his troubles off he was
still holding his own against
his direct opponents. The
Blacks' aggressive play was
directly responsible for their
goal. In the 18th minute Attard
won possession in midfield. He
played the ball back to Simoncic
who exchanged with Cariaga. The
Argentinean played the ball
towards dos Santos, who was
surrounded by three Reds'
defenders. The Brazilian's first
touch was impeccable. It took
him clear of all three. He
shaped up for the shot and
released the ball quickly. He
wrongfooted Grima who was beaten
to his left.
Hanus replied with a shot that
bounced wide. Aside from this,
however, the Blacks were in
control. Simoncic kept prompting
Attard and Mercieca to attack
down the left--they sometimes
failed to take the hint--but on
one occasion Mercieca did and he
supplied a superb cross to dos
Santos on the second post.
Corner to Għajnsielem. Near the
half hour and beyond Hotspurs
started to show why they are the
new champions. Out of nothing
they created three (29th, 34th
and 35th minute) crisp scoring
opportunities that left the
supporters shaking their heads
in disbelief. They really could
have evened matters right there
and then. Although, it looked
trivial at the time Meilak, who
in the 25th minute came on for
the injured Galea, was forced to
trip Hanus after the latter had
engaged in a slalom around two
or three Blacks on a breakaway
from an Għajnsielem set-piece.
He was shown the yellow card that
would later turn into red. It
should be noted that towards the
end of the first half,
Għajnsielem seemed to be relying
exclusively on Simoncic, Cariaga
and dos Santos for any kind of
positive football. The rest, the
local boys, seemed to be waiting
for things to happen rather than
making things happen. Simoncic
served dos Santos, but the
latter's shot went wide. Cariaga
and dos Santos played a long
distance one-two and then
another one. Dos Santos was
hacked down, not the first time,
not the last time. Simoncic's
drive from the free-kick was
cleared. Debattista stopped
Hotspurs on a dangerous break.
So Victoria Hotspurs win their
record 11th league championship
in their history.
Congratulations to them. They
set the standards that the
Blacks sought to reach and
surpass in the past. They
have done so
again. Now it is up
to
the
Blacks to regroup and have a go
at them. They could get their
first
chance this season, if the
Blacks take care of business in
the G.F.A. Cup. The Hotspurs are
waiting for the winner of that
trophy to face them in the Super
Cup final.
