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MATCH REPORT
Għajnsielem F.C.
knew that they
had to win their match against
Sannat Lions after
watching their
sole challengers for the title
Oratory Youths sweep aside Nadur
Youngsters. The pressure and the
quality of their opponents,
especially Lions captain and
striker Daniel Borg, nearly
unravelled the Blacks. For over
half the match Għajnsielem was a
shadow of the team that was
imperious in the preliminary
round. As the pressure subsided
and Sannat's resistance wilted
the Blacks regained some of
their swagger and put the Lions
away with three of their players
accounting for all the goals, a
hat-trick apiece. The win
leaves the Blacks four points
clear of the resurgent Youths.
The Blacks' next opponents are
Xewkija Tigers and Qala Youths
in that order. They finish the
season with the direct clash
against Oratory Youths.
Sannat Lions had
their regular goalkeeper missing
through injury and one or two
other players with an assortment
of ailments. On their part
Għajnsielem had two regulars,
Adrian Demanuele (unavailable)
and Christian Dingli (ill) also
missing. Coach Alex Spiteri
dropped Marco Ciangura into the
right full back position. Andrea
Grima kept his place on the left
of defence. Chris Cauchi filled
in wide right in midfield. Jamie
Vella returned into the side
initially as the centre forward,
and then wide on the left, with
left-footed Alberto Xuereb
moving up field as the
spearhead. Owen Xuereb in goal.
Andrew Attard in central defence
and captain Damon Hili in
central midfield formed the
backbone of the team.
Sannat, who
surprised Xewkija Tigers in
their championship pool opener,
had a simple plan. Deny Hili
space in midfield and hope that
their captain Daniel Borg can
prevail in his one-on-one's with
Għajnsielem's defenders. For
nearly two thirds of this match
this plan worked to perfection.
Hili was effectively muzzled in
midfield, denied room to unleash
his shots from distance and the
time to properly supply his
fellow forwards. The Blacks
lacked a plan B and as a result
looked fairly ordinary early on.
Borg, meanwhile, had one of his
best matches of his young
career. He took on Attard and
his fellow backs and beat them
time after time. He scored four
goals, all of which involved him
exploding past his marker and
depositing behind Xuereb. On his
last goal he scored straight
from the kick-off, not by
shooting from centre-field but
by dribbling past all the
Blacks. That fourth goal had
given Sannat their fourth
one-goal lead of the match.
Borg opened the
scoring after a slow start to
the match. Jamie Vella quickly
levelled matters with a
brilliant volley. Borg was
denied by Xuereb on a
one-on-one, but then scored to
restore Sannat's lead. Hili soon
found Xuereb alone on the left.
The Blacks' number 7 who is
having a marvellous season
scored with a low, precise
diagonal shot. Vella nearly gave
the Blacks the lead but his shot
went high. Before half-time
Sannat regained the lead again
through Borg.
Spiteri did his
best to shake his players up
during the half-time team talk,
and soon after the restart they
equalized when Vella hammered a
loose ball past the Sannat
keeper. From the kick-off Borg
scored his fourth and last goal.
He cut through half-a-dozen
half-hearted tackles and then
blasted past a bewildered Xuereb.
The Blacks were teetering. It
was just as well that straight
from their own kick-off, Alberto
Xuereb took possession and let
go another low grounder that
went in off the far post. At
some point the Blacks had to
break this tit-for-tat that
threatened to torpedo their
championship drive.
Hili came close
when his header came back off
the post. A few minutes later he
had a chance to revisit his
miss. This time the ball came to
him via a Vella shot that came
off the bar. This time Hili's
header went in. And so the
Blacks had their first lead of
the match. Hardly championship
stuff so far. At this point
Ismael Belhadj came on for Chris
Cauchi, who had an unusually
quiet game on the wing. Maybe
Cauchi is better suited as a
traditional centre-forward.
Belhadj's energy and elusiveness
gave the Blacks a new feel.
Belhadj would also soon have a
more concrete impact on the
match. His cross from the right
was tapped home by the unmarked
Vella. The same Vella then saw
his lay-off blasted high by
Andrea Grima. But the Blacks
were now a different team and it
did not take long for them to
find the net again. Xuereb sent
Hili away and the captain
side-stepped the Sannat keeper
with disdain before tapping
home, in one fluid motion.
Belhadj could have scored twice.
First he was caught flat footed
by Hili's pass and the number
five's shot went past the far
post. Then Xuereb dismissed his
marker before sending Vella
through. The latter's cross
found Belhadj who miscued his
shot. Ciangura, who had a
terrific match at right back,
was too far behind to grab the
glory. Andrew Attard, who had a
tough match trying to contain
Borg, finally got the measure of
this player and made sure that
there would be no more heroics
from this powerful forward.
Attard took time also to set up
Xuereb for his hat-trick with a
long diagonal pass. Xuereb
scored. Sannat then netted a
consolation goal. From the
kick-off Hili dribbled through
to complete his hat-trick.
This is the
championship pool. Both Nadur
and Sannat have made the Blacks
work hard for what they got, a
draw and a win. Għajnsielem can
expect more of the same in their
upcoming matches.
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