Sliema Wanderers 0
Rapid Bucharest 1

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Sliema Wanderers saw out their brief participation in the 2006-2007 UEFA Cup with a narrow 1-0 defeat against Romanian team Rapid Bucharest at Ta' Qali yesterday. Rapid, UEFA Cup quarter-finalists last season, qualify for the next round with a 6-0 aggregate victory.

Following the comprehensive 5-0 rout suffered in the Romanian capital two weeks ago, qualification for the next round of the UEFA Cup was all but assured for Rapid, meaning that Sliema Wanderers went into the return leg with only pride at stake.

In the away leg, the Blues found the going tough, especially in the first half during which their defence was breached five times.

Yesterday, the Wanderers fought hard but were inferior to their opponents who chalked up another comfortable victory courtesy of a Mugurel Buga strike inside the first quarter.

That early buffer enabled the Romanians to control the proceedings without spending too much energy and at times, the game looked more like a training session than a competitive UEFA Cup tie.

Edward Aquilina and Hugh Caruana, Sliema's coaching tandem, welcomed back striker Ivan Woods and gave a debut to Czech Republic midfielder Zdenek Svoboda. Sliema stuck with a 4-5-1 formation with Chucks Nwoko deployed as a lone striker.

In goal, Aquilina gave the nod to youngster Henry Bonello who replaced the injured Murphy Akanji. The Sliema netminder had a satisfactory outing, pulling off two commendable saves towards the end of the first half that prevented the Romanians from doubling their tally.

In reality, Sliema, shorn of competitive action, never matched their opponents' tenacity, ball skills and stamina as they were forced to play second fiddle to Rapid Bucharest for most of the match.

Sliema were rather lucky not to find themselves trailing to an early goal as Stefan Giglio's timely tackle cleared the ball away for a corner before Ryan Griffiths could shoot from close range inside the first five minutes.

Following this close shave, Sliema were helpless to stop their opponents from forging ahead on 12 minutes. Marius Constantin did well to serve Valentin Badoi on the right flank, the lanky Rapid midfielder advancing before delivering an inch-perfect ball towards Buga who scored with a simple tap-in.

For most of the opening 45 minutes, Rapid Bucharest dominated possession with most of their menacing moves coming along the right flank through the hardworking Badoi.

Forced to defend for long stretches, Sliema finally found a way out of their besieged fort on 34 minutes.

Roderick Bajada executed a short corner towards Claude Mattocks who rolled the ball towards Svoboda. The Czech player unleashed a low shot which Danut Coman, the Rapid goalkeeper, saved easily.

On 36 minutes, Rapid Bucharest could easily have doubled the score as Badoi craftily evaded the offside trap and dribbled past the Blues' central defenders, but he failed to beat Bonello who managed to tame the curling shot.

A minute later, referee Milan Karadzic looked to invite both sets of players to have a brief drinking pause in order to soften the burden of the sweltering summer heat.

This somewhat unprecedented move by the match official came as a surprise to the few supporters on the stands as well as the press men on duty at the National Stadium yesterday.

In the early stages of the second half, the Romanians pounded the Blues' fort for long periods and Bonello had to be on constant guard as a string of menacing runs tormented the likes of Giglio and Jeffrey Chetcuti.

On the hour, Sliema won a free-kick on the edge of their opponents' penalty area after the sprinting Woods had his attempted run into the Rapid box stopped by Cristian Sapunaru.

Svoboda stepped up for the free-kick but his effort to get the better of Coman in goal was too weak and the ball sailed over the crossbar.

Sliema might have levelled the scores three minutes from time through an excellent set-piece. Svoboda delivered a dipping corner into the path of the surging Giglio but the latter's well-hit volley finished wide.

Sliema: H. Bonello, S. Giglio, I. Ciantar, A. Muscat, D. Carabott ('76 L. Lombardi), J. Chetcuti, R. Bajada ('83 J. Mintoff), Z. Svoboda, C. Mattocks, C. Nwoko, I. Woods.

Rapid Bucharest: D. Coman, V. Badoi, A. Karamyan ('46 I. Stancu), R. Griffiths ('76 A. Petrescu), N. Grigore, C. Sapunaru, L. Burdujan ('58 C. Vasilache), M. Constantin, V. Mattei, R. Stancu, M. Buga.

Referee: M. Karadzic (Serbia).

Scorer: Buga 12.

Yellow Cards: Stancu; Sapunaru.

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