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AS IT HAPPENED
(click
here for As it happened)
Għajnsielem F.C.
needed to bounce back from the
disappointing draw against S.K.
Victoria Wanderers with a good
performance against Xewkija
Tigers and a win to stay in the
hunt with the leading pack,
which includes leaders Sannat
Lions and third-placed Nadur
Youngsters. The Blacks fulfilled
these twin ambitions. They
played one of their best games
of the season and won by three
goals to one. This does not mean
that the supporters did not have
to suffer but that is perhaps
credit to Xewkija Tigers, who
fought to the end even though a
man short for the last 12
minutes of the match.
So what brought
such a change in the Blacks'
performance? Alex Simoncic and
Dominic Grech came up with the
idea of starting their starlet,
Ferdinando Apap at right-back.
Apap interpreted this role
brilliantly, attacking at will
and recovering to fulfil his
defensive duties. Apap's
insertion in Għajnsielem's back
four, at the expense of Robert
Grima, added weight to the
Blacks' defense, a valuable
commodity against the hefty
Xewkija forward line. Indeed,
Apap's frame came in handy when
the Tigers started leaning
heavily on the Blacks in the
second half.
Jason Portelli
returned to the midfield from
suspension. Portelli's
experience and technical
qualities were there for all to
see. Portelli even won more than
his fair share of one-on-ones in
midfield. This contribution was
important because the Blacks'
regular ball-winner, Franklee
Galea succumbed to a leg injury
and could not make it past the
half-time break. Galea's outing
was positive. He helped the
Blacks' midfield dominate the
first half and made a few good
runs down the right. Robert
Grima took the baton in the
second half and played his part
in this important win. Grima was
not intimidated by the opponents
and was confident in his
interventions.
Mark Camilleri
started the match up front with
Thiago dos Santos. Although, dos
Santos was the goal scoring hero
with his first career hat-trick
for the Blacks, Camilleri played
the role well throwing his body
at the high balls, making
intelligent runs and holding the
ball to give the team a chance
to advance as a team. As for dos
Santos, he was at the right
place in the right time for his
first goal, but there was
nothing lucky about his other
two goals and his all-round
performance. Dos Santos has
shown that with a little help he
can carry this team.
Alex Simoncic was
decisive in midfield. He is so
calm on the ball. It takes a
player of his quality not to
feel rushed playing against a
team that by their own admission
lift their game a notch at the
sight of the Blacks of
Għajnsielem. Simoncic is also
good at separating opponent from
ball. But it is what he does
with the ball that sets him
apart. Although dos Santos still
had quite a lot to do following
the initial pass, it was
Simoncic who twice sent him on
his way for two great goals.
Kenneth Mercieca put in a
generous shift this afternoon.
He trekked back to keep the
balance in midfield and pushed
forward in support of the
strikers. With a little luck he
would have capped his effort
with a goal.
For once Yannick
Ossok did not have to be at his
very best in this match. He had
to be careful after picking up
an early yellow card. Ossok
controlled matters effortlessly
the rest of the way. His most
important intervention came in
the last minute of regular time
when he caught up with Rodney
Buttigieg, after trailing him by
a good five metres, and clearing
the ball as the latter was
shaping up to shoot at goal.
Joseph Buttigieg
had a good game at left back.
Although Xewkija struggle to
score, in Jonathan Bajada,
Rodney Buttigieg and Kiril
Dyakov they have a worrisome
forward line built on power
rather than speed. So Buttigieg
had to be equally ferocious in
his interventions. Buttigieg was
also eager to push forward in a
delicate moment in the second
half, just after the Tigers had
reduced the arrears and were
pushing for the equalizer. This
positive play from the captain
lifted the Blacks and
neutralized the Tigers' power
play. David Debattista was as
solid and reliable as he always
is. David is one of the most
consistent performers in the
Blacks' squad. He did not set a
foot wrong today and was
instrumental in keeping
Xewkija's forwards in check.
Thanks to the stellar work
performed in front of him,
Joseph Grech did not have much
to do in this match. He was
beaten by an unstoppable
free-kick. Grech dealt with
another dangerous free-kick well
and courageously punched away a
number of Xewkija crosses.
The match
followed a simple plot. The
Blacks took charge of matters
from the start. They did not
relax until they were two goals
up. Xuereb tipped Portelli's
cross over the bar for a corner,
Mercieca was poised to volley
dos Santos' cross but was beaten
to the ball by a defender and
Simoncic struck the bar from
distance. The first goal came in
the 25th minute from a Jason
Portelli free-kick that was
nearly headed in by Simoncic.
The ball was met by dos Santos
who bundled it past Jonathan
Xuereb. Six minutes later,
Simoncic sent dos Santos in. The
Brazilian resisted the challenge
of the last Xewkija defenders
and then neatly placed the ball
low past Xuereb at the near
post. Xewkija were in disarray
and were saved from further
goals by their ability to spring
the offside trap on the Blacks.
At the restart,
it was clear that Xewkija would
regroup and mount a reaction.
The Blacks had to resist
Xewkija's fury for a few
minutes, that is until it
quietly subsided. They didn't.
They were undone by a gem of a
goal from a Dyakov free-kick. At
this point the match was really
in the balance. The Tigers
believed that they could
turn the tables on the Blacks. Għajnsielem had two chances to
kill this belief at its
inception. First dos Santos
dribbled inside the Xewkija
penalty area and then squared
the ball to an unmarked Apap.
The youngster controlled the
ball, advanced towards Xuereb
and struck the ball firmly, but
the ball kept rising and cleared
the crossbar. Then dos Santos
played the ball to Camilleri
inside the Xewkija penalty area. The
experienced striker controlled
the ball well and shaped up for
the killer blow. His low angled
shot beat Xuereb but it also
beat the far post. Kenneth
Mercieca followed the action
well and was inches away from
connecting at the far post.
Xewkija's
pressure had relented somewhat
but it picked up towards the
end. The Tigers kept coming even
after they lost Josef Xerri who
was sent off after he had
dragged dos Santos down just
outside the Tigers' penalty area. The
Brazilian had beaten two Xewkija
defenders with his pace.
Dyakov
tried to even things up with his
free-kicks: he nearly scored on
one occasion when the ball
dipped hard but not enough to go
in. In injury time, Simoncic put
dos Santos through with a low
pass. The Brazilian seemed to
have missed his chance for the
hat-trick, when he checked back.
He had a trick up his sleeve,
however, because he looked up
and spotting Xuereb off his line
he beat him with a delicate lob.
This was a fitting end to a
great all-round performance from
the Blacks in a fixture that was
much more difficult than one
might think.
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