MATCH REPORT
(click
here for As it happened)
Għajnsielem F.C.'s title
hopes received a serious setback
this afternoon when the Blacks
were held to a 1-1 draw by S.K.
Victoria Wanderers. Given the
relentless pace that is being
set by the Sannat Lions in the
third round, the Blacks had to
keep winning to stay in touch.
The point gained does keep the
Blacks three points behind
Sannat, and in theory still in
control of their own destiny.
The Blacks played
in a 4-4-2 formation with
Ferdinando Apap and Thiago dos
Santos the two front men. This
means that Mark Camilleri
started the match on the bench.
Alex Simoncic returned to the
starting line-up, in place of
the suspended Jason Portelli.
The latter, who will return in
the Blacks' next match against
Xewkija Tigers, was missed in
midfield. Although the presence
of Simoncic and Portelli in the
same midfield used to be seen as
a liability by some, due to the
offensive mindset of these two
players, a match such as this
shows the folly of such a view.
The quality and personality of
these two players has sustained
the Blacks' assault all
season-long and the two could
take turns in controlling
midfield, with their transition
play, and pry open defences with
their probing passes. Franklee
Galea played in central
midfield, Kenneth Mercieca
played wide left and Stefan
Azzopardi, in a rare start,
played wide right. The defence
was unchanged: the towering
Yannick Ossok, by far the best
defender seen here for a long
time, maybe the best ever,
partnered by the reliable David
Debattista, with the captain
Joseph Buttigieg at left-back
and the impressive Robert Grima
at right-back. Ossok's
companions had arguably their
best match of the season:
Debattista (tackling plus a
goalmouth clearance), Buttigieg
(several decisive
attack-breaking tackles and fine
crosses) and Grima (two-way
football, terrific second half
cross). Joseph Grech
played in goal. He was busier
than he had been in the last two
matches combined and in the end
helped the Blacks to preserve
their point.
The match did not
start well for
Għajnsielem. In the 12th minute
they conceded a soft goal. Ossok
had already asserted his
authority in the opening
exchanges, so when the ball
arrived at Agibade Adesina's
feet outside the Blacks' penalty
area, the latter
did not linger too long
on the ball, this would have
given Ossok a chance to close
him down and eventually
dispossess him. He shot at goal
and the ball slid under Grech
and went in. The Blacks were
understandably shocked by this
goal and for a few minutes the
Wanderers threatened to follow
up with what might have been the
knock-out punch. Somehow the
Blacks survived this difficult
period.
In the 19th minute they
rectified the situation.
Ferdinando Apap headed the ball
towards the unmarked Kenneth
Mercieca and the Blacks' number
8 redirected the ball with a
strong header of his own towards
goal. This looked like the
equalizer until Franklyn Vella
dove to his left and turned the
ball behind for a corner.
Simoncic took charge. The ball
was cleared short to Stefan
Azzopardi, who kept his head and
delivered an inviting ball
towards Mercieca. With memories
of the previous miss still fresh
on his mind Mercieca attacked
the ball decisively and his
left-footed volley found the
back of the net, right there in
the spot where his header should
have gone moments earlier.
It did not cross anyone's mind
at that point that this would be
it in terms of goals. But so it
turned out to be. The Wanderers
had two more crisp chances to
retake the load. The first came
ten minutes later, when Ige
Adesina's free-kick came back
off the post with Grech beaten.
Then Lauran Dimech failed to
beat the Blacks' keeper with the
header from the rebound.
Għajnsielem might have come back
from this goal, but there is
nothing they could have done had
Steve Dimech played his cards
better in the 93rd minute of the
match. The Blacks were in attack
en masse, desperately
trying to
score
a late winner.
Simoncic's corner was cleared
towards the second half
substitute Dimech. He kept his
feet following Franklee Galea's
lunging tackle and sped on
towards a two-on-one. Agibade
Adesina waited and waited for
the pass but Dimech hesitated.
The wily Ossok gave the
youngster the shooting option,
with Grech in good position on
his goal line. Dimech thought
about shooting for a second, but
then decided that Adesina should
do the honours. Ossok pounced on
his pass like a raven on a road
kill and the Blacks escaped with
a point.
In between these two Wanderers
moments, the Blacks dictated
proceedings troubled only by
their knowledge of the
devastating power of the
Wanderers' fast break. The
problem for the Blacks was that
they seemed out of ideas. The
generous Thiago dos Santos, who
refused to stand still all game
long, shifting horizontally and
vertically, often got bogged
down in unproductive dribbles
with the Wanderers double and
triple teaming him. Dos Santos
was also unfortunate in that on
two separate occasions he saw
his shot taken from a good
position inside the penalty area
blocked by a last ditch attempt
from a defender. The Blacks'
fate looked well and truly
sealed when both Ossok and
Simoncic ended up resorting to
route one balls to Apap, dos
Santos or second half substitute
Mark Camilleri. David Monday and
Williams Akande dominated in the
air and the Wanderers survived
this assault.
On days like these, and there
have been many this season, and
last, the Blacks turn to the
set-piece for their break
through. With Simoncic on the
field you would expect something
to happen at some point. It
should have but it didn't. The
Blacks, so impotent from open
play, due to the high balls
directed at Monday and Akande,
had a better game plan from dead
balls. They attacked the second
post. Amazingly, time after
time, the ball arrived there
directly from Simoncic or
indirectly from him through
Buttigieg, but Mercieca, Apap,
dos Santos, Ossok and Camilleri
could not beat or even trouble
Vella with the second post
header. In a supremely ironic
moment, the Wanderers almost
scored when Chris Sciortino's
cross was headed towards goal at
the far post by Steve Dimech,
but Grech was there to save on
the goal line.
The Blacks are not out of the
race, but they now have no
margin of error whatsoever. They
have to win out.
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