A visibly tired
Għajnsielem F.C. team were
beaten 2-4 by S.K. Victoria
Wanderers and were thus
eliminated from
the G.F.A. Cup
at the
quarter-final stage of the
competition. This defeat brings
to an end the 2009/10 season for
Għajnsielem's senior side. The
Blacks started the match without
the suspended Brian Meilak and
the injured Franklee Galea. They
lost Alex Simoncic in the first
half. The player-coach
aggravated a groin injury. Glenn
Cefai took his place. In the
second half captain Joseph
Buttigieg, who had moved to
right-midfield following
Simoncic's exit, also left the
match. Charlon Tabone took his
place on the right.
Għajnsielem took the lead in the
third minute. Simoncic played a
diagonal ball towards Kenneth
Mercieca, who passed towards
Joseph Attard. The Blacks'
forward found Ferdinando Apap
underneath the post and the
latter had the simplest of tap
ins to give Għajnsielem a great
start. Immediately after,
however, S.K. Victoria Wanderers
drew level. A cross from the
left towards the second post was
not picked up by Għajnsielem's
defence, and Chris Sciortino
hammered past Joseph Grech from
a difficult angle.
The match settled down after
this. Joseph Attard had a good
chance but opted to pass instead
of taking a shot at goal.
Following the injury to
Simoncic, Joseph Buttigieg moved
forward. He was involved in a
tremendous move that saw him
turn his defender and fire at
the S.K. Victoria Wanderers
goalkeeper, Parnis who saved
with difficulty. Thiago dos
Santos somehow failed to score
from the rebound. He could not
control his finish and the ball
cleared the bar. The Brazilian
striker, who was busy throughout
this match making unselfish runs
for his teammates, made up for
this miss in the 41st minute.
His shot from outside the
penalty area overwhelmed Parnis
and gave Għajnsielem a deserved
lead.
Joseph Attard was sent all alone
early in the second half. Attard
rushed his attempted lob and the
Wanderers' keeper saved easily.
Later on the Wanderers lost a
similar opportunity and Grech
saved easily. Grech had to make
a number of interventions on the
slippery Gozo Stadium turf and
suffered a number of bone
crunching clashes with
opponenents. He somehow survived
and courageously kept the Blacks
in the match. He could do
nothing, however, in the 60th
minute when Joseph Vella beat
him with a low shot.
The Blacks, who seemed to be
still suffering from the morale
sapping match Sunday against
Victoria Hotspurs, were confused
in their reaction. They tried to
score the winner but their play
lacked conviction. Just when it
looked like the match would go
into extra-time, S.K. Victoria
Wanderers scored their
third goal and then
piled on
the misery by scoring yet
another goal deep into injury
time. Chris Sciortino and
Manuel Cordina were the scorers
for the Blues.
