Għajnsielem F.C. had a
chance to beat Victoria Hotspurs
and rise to within two points of
joint league leaders Sannat
Lions and Nadur
Youngsters. Their one goal first
half lead backed by a solid
all-round performance pointed
towards a comfortable Blacks
victory. But a dire second half
from the Blacks let Victoria
Hotspurs back in the match. The
reds had threatened to score
early after the re-start, so
that when Ryan Grech's equalizer
finally arrived no one on the
Għajnsielem side
was shocked. In the end,
particularly after Ferdinando
Apap's dismissal, everyone
seemed relieved that the Blacks
at least grabbed a point from
this encounter, which keeps them
level on points with their
opponents.
Dominic Grech, in his second
match in charge,
lined the Blacks in a 4-4-2
formation. The back four was
made up of Yannick Ossok and
Ferdinando Apap in central
defence and Stefan Azzopardi and
Joseph Buttigieg as full-backs.
Franklee Galea and Alex Simoncic
played in central midfield.
Jason Portelli and Kenneth
Mercieca, played wide right and
left respectively. N'dayi
Kalenga and Charlon Tabone
played in attack. Grech had at
his disposal David Debattista,
who had recovered from his
injury.
The match developed into a quiet
affair with both sides content
to control each other and
unwilling to take undue risks
when going forward. Kalenga's
movement made Għajnsielem the
more dangerous side, with
playmakers such as Simoncic and
Portelli constantly scanning the
horizon in a bid to release
Kalenga, who has yet to score
this season. The Blacks' main
threat up front, however, was
closely marked by the Hotspurs
defence. The window of
opportunity was never thrown
wide open in this match. It was
a frustrating game of inches
with probing passes often
catching Kalenga on the wrong
foot. At other times a sea of
red seemed to envelop the
striker as he laboured to turn
and attack goal.
The Blacks sensed that route one
was not working so they tried to
exploit the space that was
available in midfield by taking
uncontested shots from range.
Mercieca shot high. Simoncic
sent his drive wide. Portelli,
who was starved of clean ball
for most of this match, tried to
introduce reason in
Għajnsielem's manoeuvre and
combined with Tabone in an
attempt to unleash Kalenga. But
again Tabone passed the ball one
way, while Kalenga burst the
other way. Mercieca and
Buttigieg mounted another attack
that petered out. Tabone chased
Ossok's long pass, beat an
opponent to it and sent a
promising pass, which nearly
made it all the way to Kalenga.
As if to remind us that he was
in goal for the second match
running, Richard Sammut came off
his line to handle safely a
Victoria Hotspurs cross. A
Buttigieg long pass to Kalenga
went astray: Kalenga was coming
towards Buttigieg, the captain
expected him to go deep. The
Blacks were not on the same
wavelength. Portelli was fouled
at a point within Simoncic's
range. The free-kick went
straight at the goalkeeper. Fine
play involving Ossok, Buttigieg,
Simoncic and Kalenga went to
waste because Tabone shot meekly
at Grima. Apap then embarked on
an adventure, which almost lead
to a Hotspurs goal.
The Blacks continued to switch
play from left to right well,
but they lacked accuracy in the
final third. It did not look
like they would score. Then
Kalenga ran on to a through
pass. He failed to beat the
Hotspurs backline for pace,
however, he forced them to foul
him. Simoncic took charge and
hammered a low drive past Grima
for his second goal of the
season and for a deserved lead.
Għajnsielem should have doubled
their lead when Kalenga took a
delicious return pass from
Portelli, shaped up to shoot
from an angle but missed badly
with a high shot.
The Blacks came out in the
second half a changed team. The
only pressure coming from
Hotspurs were high balls, which
became dangerous because they
were repeatedly misjudged by
Apap, who may have been troubled
by the swirling wind. In the 6th
minute Ryan Grech took advantage
of a serious breakdown deep
inside the Blacks' left and
blasted his team back into the
match.
Għajnsielem tried to regain
their composure. Tabone
was fouled as he went across the
half-way line. Simoncic swerved
a pass towards Mercieca, who
instead of heading at goal
attempted a difficult lob, which
cleared the Hotspurs' bar.
Tabone, again in the thick of
things returned the ball to
Portelli, who tried another
one-two with Kalenga, but the
latter over-hit his pass, to
Portelli's dismay.
The match deteriorated at this
point, at least from the Blacks'
perspective. Domenic Grech was
the hardest working Black, and
by some distance. The Blacks
lost concentration, shape and
intensity. It was a match by
remote control and Grech must
receive full credit for the
point earned this afternoon, he
all but lost his voice by the
final whistle. He also used his
full complement of substitutions
to resuscitate the Blacks.
Joseph Attard II came on for
Tabone. David Debattista came on
for Franklee Galea. In the
interim, Apap ceased being a
liability when he was sent off
for two yellow cards earned for
two mistimed tackles. Robert
Grima came on for Mercieca. Then
Kalenga ran on to a through
pass, he seemed one move away
from rounding the onrushing
Grima, but it never happened.
Soon after Chris Lautier blew
the final whistle.
