Blues amply pass Pietà's test

Sliema Wanderers 5
Pietà Hotspurs 0

Leaders Sliema Wanderers were aware that Pietà were not to be taken lightly. The Hotspurs' brisk start to the season and their recent victory over Valletta legitimated these fears.

The Blues, however, took their opponents by the scruff of the neck to send them reeling to a comprehensive 5-0 defeat which went some way towards earning them the plaudits usually reserved for the league pacemakers.

Fielding an arguably full formation, the Wanderers completely outplayed the Hotspurs with a display of silky football which must have generated confidence in their clan.

Pietà were truly dumped even allowing for the fact that they were reduced to ten men after 16 minutes. Carlo Mamo's return proved to be a tonic for this young lad who played a blinder, besides getting his name in the goalscorers' list. He was voted player of the match.

On this form, the prospects for Edward Aquilina's outfit could only be bright, with their apparently tricky test against the Hotspurs being amply passed.

Once they took an early 2-0 lead, Sliema never looked back, marching forward with gusto on a surface which they mastered with increasing facility.

For the Hotspurs, yesterday's match turned out to be a nightmarish outing, with Ray Farrugia having to dig deep to restore the lost psychological pep among his lads.

The Wanderers had Mamo in after serving a six-month suspension. Massimo Grima started on the substitutes' bench, while Jeffrey Chetcuti was out of the equation due to injury. Pietà were without the services of Jamie Pace, serving a one-match suspension, with Sharlon Pace replacing Pierre Aquilina. Kevin Mamo was also missing.

Sliema, with Nenad Veselji and Edoardo Do Nascimento flanking Danilo Doncic in a three-pronged attacking line, started on a more workmanlike vein. After 11 minutes Doncic was felled by Okonkwo inside the area and from the resultant spot-kick Saviour Darmanin saved Noel Turner's feeble shot.

Five minutes later Okonkwo was summarily dismissed, apparently for passing disparaging remarks to the referee. It was a surprising decision. Sliema continued on the offensive, winning a spate of free-kicks and corner kicks but hardly testing Darmanin.

The Hotspurs goalkeeper did well, however, to deny the erstwhile hesitant Doncic who was clear after being put through by David Camilleri.

By this time Veselji moved to a central striking position, allowing the alert Mamo to take up the left flank. Doncic missed a great chance from the latter's low cross, but moments later Veselji gave the Blues a deserved lead when he hammered in off a cross from Brincat.

Three minutes later Doncic made amends for his earlier miss after he connected to Turner's cross to plant past Darmanin. The Wanderers' supremacy was beyond question and their football at this stage was more than adequate even allowing for the tricky surface. Pietà could not get going.

Their only effort towards goal came from substitute Lee Lombardi whose looping header just missed the target. Mirko Jurilj's timely incursion down the middle was annulled for offside amid the protests of Mauro Dilello, who incurred a booking. But Sliema's 2-0 half-time lead was more than deserved.

They increased that advantage barely 90 seconds into the restart. Brincat won a tackle in midfield and from his measured pass Mamo hit low into the corner of the net.

It was evident that Farrugia's team were up against it. They simply had no answer to the Wanderers' constant pounding.

Kevin Sammut, coming on after the interval for Veselji, served Doncic with a millimetric through ball. The Sliema striker controlled well before hitting past the helpless Darmanin.

There had always been one team in the picture. The Blues kept moving forward with nonchalance, reducing their opponents to tatters. Gareth Sciberras could only touch the ball the wrong way off a Mamo cross with the ball ending at the back of his own net.

The spate of substitutions by both sides was irrelevant as the Wanderers kept playing the tune. Doncic just missed with a header. That was of no consequence.

The Wanderers were more than comfortable winners. Pietà left the field with their heads low.

Sliema W.: M. Akanji (J. Cordina), I. Ciantar, C. Okoh, B. Said, N. Turner, C. Mamo, J. Brincat (R. Mangion), D. Camilleri, D. Doncic, E. Do Nascimento, N. Veselji (K. Sammut).

Pietà H.: S. Darmanin, M. Dilello, M. Jurilj, D. Okonkwo, G. Sciberras, I. Woods, A. Galea (L. Lombardi), M. Licari (C. Frendo), D. Cummings, S. Pace, A. Debono (C. Sammut).

Referee: Anton Zammit.

Scorers: Veselji 29th; Doncic 32nd, 54th; Mamo 47th; G. Sciberras o.g. 72nd.

Yellow Cards: Ciantar; Dilello.

Red Card: Okonkwo 16th.

Player Of The Match: Carlo Mamo (Sliema W.).