Woods' late penalty frustrates Stripes

Sliema Wanderers 1
Birkirkara 1

Birkirkara players and fans yesterday evening ambled out of the National Stadium cursing their luck and the courage of the match officials. Their players seemed well poised to resuscitate their title dream as they led adversaries Sliema Wanderers 1-0 with less than a minute of injury time left but their optimism suddenly evaporated.

Assistant referee Philip Agius waved his flag to signal a handball by Etienne Barbara on an Alex Muscat free-kick and referee Lorry Sammut boldly awarded Sliema a penalty.

Oblivious to the tension around him, Ivan Woods planted the ball past Justin Haber from the penalty spot to give the Wanderers a sharing of the spoils which, for the best part of yesterday's match bar the last 25 minutes, appeared to be beyond their reach.

In normal circumstances, a 1-1 draw against the champions is not viewed as a bad result but for Birkirkara it was. Their third position in the standings, seven points adrift of Sliema, made it obligatory for them to collect maximum points in order to cut the leeway from the leading duo.

But the 1-1 draw kept them seven points behind the champions and six below Valletta who were the ones who benefited most from this result after their exciting win over Floriana.

Meanwhile, Saviour Darmanin was selected by Stephen Azzopardi to guard Birkirkara's goal. It will not have been easy for Azzopardi to write the first name on his teamsheet as young goalkeeper Joshua Galea had done well in the previous two matches and Haber, the Malta goalkeeper, had also regained his fitness after an ankle injury.

Other changes from Birkirkara's initial XI in the 3-0 victory over Floriana saw Michael Galea and Roderick Briffa earning a recall to the first team at the expense of Chucks Nwoko and Adrian Ciantar. Nigerian powerhouse Haruna Doda was out of the 18-man list due to injury.

Sliema coach Edward Aquilina also opted to hand Nigerian goalkeeper Murphy Akanji a route back into the first team after Matthew Camilleri had started the previous three matches for the champions. Brian Said and Jeffrey Chetcuti also returned, replacing the suspended Joe Brincat and Orosco Anonam who is nursing a groin problem. Miguel Mifsud was preferred to Lee Lombardi.

Twenty minutes passed when Birkirkara created their first notable chance. Mifsud Triganza raced forward to reach a pass from the middle, Chetcuti temporarily robbed him of the ball but the former Floriana striker maintained his balance to regain possession but his drive was touched away by Akanji.

Five minutes later, Mallia found the ball at his feet after Sliema failed to clear a cross from Michael Galea but his scrambled shot bounced wide.

Judging by their tactical configuration, Sliema's gameplan was one of containment as Aquilina instructed the industrious Woods to lead his team's attack by himself with Danilo Doncic, Mattocks and Stefan Giglio granted licence to roam behind him.

Birkirkara were more inclined to attack but seldom did they ruffle the Sliema defenders. Yet, the tone of the match is likely to have changed had the Stripes exploited a mistake by the Sliema defenders which allowed Mifsud Triganza and Etienne Barbara to power their way through on goal but, with only Akanji to beat, the rising drive from the former crashed against the crossbar. This came on 42 minutes.

Before the official sent both teams to the dressing rooms for half-time, Akanji parried a William Camenzuli free-kick in two attempts. Sliema's first telling foray into Birkirkara's half seven minutes from the restart almost produced a breakthrough but Mifsud dragged the ball wide of the near post after being sent through by Woods.

The opening goal was not long in coming but it was Birkirkara who hit the jackpot. Michael Galea delivered a perfect cross towards the centre of the Sliema area and Mifsud Triganza ghosted behind Darren Debono and headed firmly past Akanji.

Sliema almost gained an equaliser straight from the restart as Mifsud punted the ball forward and the advancing Woods darted between the Camenzuli and Darmanin but his attempt to head past the rushing Birkirkara keeper dropped wide.

Birkirkara's brisk running and passing constituted a constant threat to Sliema who were lucky not to fall two goals behind midway into the second half.

A swift Birkirkara move from the middle saw Michael Galea again making progress down the left before he served Barbara who flicked the ball past Muscat with his first touch, but his subsequent shot was too central to unnerve Akanji.

On 77 minutes, Doncic hit a crossfield pass towards Mifsud, who had been strangely left unmarked inside the penalty area, but his goalbound shot hit Darmanin and was kept out by Camenzuli. The clearance from the Birkirkara defender curled towards the far post where Woods stooped to try and divert the ball in to the net but Lucian Dronca came rushing back to avert the danger.

Moments later, Doncic passed to Lubos Pernis, a second half substitute for Mattocks, but his first-time volley skimmed the far post.

Azzopardi was forced to bring Haber from the bench to replace the hobbling Darmanin.

It looked as though Birkirkara were going to hold onto their lead but deep into added time, Sliema levelled matters. Barbara clearly handled Muscat's free-kick, the penalty was given and Woods did the rest.

Sliema: M. Akanji-7, A. Muscat-6, B. Said-6, D. Debono-6, N. Turner-6, C. Mattocks-5 ('70 L. Pernis), D. Doncic-6, J. Chetcuti-7, I. Woods-7, M. Mifsud-6, S. Giglio-5.

Birkirkara: S. Darmanin-6 ('79 J. Haber), L. Galea-7, P. Monye7, R. Sammut-6, W. Camenzuli-7, M. Galea-7, L. Dronca-6, R. Briffa-6 ('68 M.A. Bonnici), J.P. Mifsud Triganza-7 ('76 C. Nwoko), G. Mallia-6, E. Barbara-7.

Referee: Lorry Sammut.

Scorers: Mifsud Triganza 60; Woods 90 pen.

Yellow Cards: Doncic; Woods; Mifsud.

Player Of The Match: Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza (Birkirkara).