Sliema's late surge downs Pietà

Sliema Wanderers 4
Pietà Hotspurs 1

Sliema Wanderers kept up the pace with the Premier League front runners after they ground out a hard-fought win over a stubborn Pietà Hotspurs side in the closing match of the weekend programme.

Two quickfire goals midway through the second half enabled the Wanderers to break the resistance of a resolute Pietà side who, despite having to do without several established players, stretched the Wanderers to the limit.

Things seemed to be heading in the right direction for the Wanderers when a goal by Jeffrey Chetcuti put them ahead. However, Sliema failed to build on the momentum and let Pietà back into the match early in the second half when weak cover from a counter-attack paved the way for Anatole Debono to pull the Hotspurs level.

Sliema slowly regrouped and inspired by the constant running of Ivan Woods and Roderick Bajada and the excellent distribution of Zdenek Svoboda, they managed to breach Pietà's resistance three times in the final 20 minutes to race to a comfortable victory.

Pietà coach Davide Vittorio had a huge task in naming his line-up as he had no fewer than five first-team players ruled out of yesterday's match. Digger Okonkwo, Claudio Calleja and Daniel Theuma were forced to sit out due to suspension while striker Martin Deanov and Italian defender Angelo Tasca were certified unfit to play. David Camenzuli and Carl Sammut returned from suspension while Quelin Refalo, Dominic Mifsud and Daniel Gatt were handed a rare start.

Edward Aquilina, the Sliema coach, recalled defender Sharlon Pace to replace the injured Ian Ciantar while Bajada started on the bench.

It was Sliema who took the initiative early on but for all their possession they did not create any clearcut goal-scoring opportunities. Instead it was Pietà who could have taken a shock lead on 12 minutes when Noel Turner's backpass was too short and in came Sammut who shot weakly into the hands of Murphy Akanji.

Sliema managed to break the stalemate on 22 minutes in their first attempt at goal. They won a free-kick on the right, taken by the influential Svoboda, and wingback Chetcuti dived full stretch to head the ball past a helpless Andrew Hogg.

Four minutes later, the Pietà goalkeeper rushed out to block the surging Woods, the ball fell to Chucks Nwoko whose scrambled lob ended wide.

Pietà's response arrived on 38 minutes when Gatt sent a teasing cross towards Ryan Camilleri who had enough space to control the ball but opted for a first-time finish. The Pietà forward fluffed his shot and the ball rolled wide.

Two minutes from half-time the Wanderers almost doubled their advantage when Alex Muscat raced into the area and squared the ball towards Woods who, however, only just managed to connect to the ball and Hogg had no difficulty in blocking his shot.

In first-half stoppage time Sliema ended with ten players when Stefan Giglio limped out with what looked like an ankle injury. Bajada was given the nod to replace the injured Giglio at the start of the second half.

The Wanderers were shocked by the Hotspurs two minutes after the break when in a swift break, Camilleri surged into the area before serving Debono who coolly turned past his marker and fired a low shot that surprised Akanji.

Sliema soon ventured forward in an effort to regain the lead. On 56 minutes, Bajada raced through on the right and tried to chip the ball over Hogg but the ball sailed just wide.

On the hour, Aquilina looked to increase his team's flair up front when he drafted in Orosco Anonam for Pace. The Nigerian almost soon left his mark when 12 minutes later he received a good lay-off from Nwoko and unleashed a rasping drive that was blocked by Hogg.

Sliema's persistence was finally rewarded on 72 minutes when Bajada exchanged the ball with Woods before forcing his way into the area. Bajada fired a low shot past Hogg with the ball going in via the upright.

Twelve minutes from time, it was all over for the Hotspurs when Bernard Sciberras was judged to have fouled Woods in the area and a penalty was awarded. Woods stepped up for the kick and the prolific Sliema forward rammed the ball past Hogg.

Three minutes from time Bajada made Sliema's win even more emphatic when his curling shot left Hogg rooted to his spot.

In the final minutes, Woods could have increased his and Sliema's tally but he was twice denied by one-handed stops from Hogg.

Sliema: M. Akanji-6, A. Muscat-5, M. Di Lello-6, B. Said-6, N. Turner-5.5 ('69 D. Carabott-5.5), J. Chetcuti-6.5, I. Woods-7.5, C. Nwoko-6, Z. Svoboda-6.5, S. Giglio-6 ('46 R. Bajada-7), S. Pace-6 ('60 O. Anonam-6).

Pietà: A. Hogg-6.5, C. Okoh-6 ('49 E. Camilleri-5), B. Sciberras-6.5, Q. Refalo-6 ('90 E. Vella), C. Sammut-6, D. Gatt-5.5, D. Camenzuli-6, S. Kondev-6, A. Debono-6.5, D. Mifsud-6, R. Camilleri-6.5 ('66 E. Bugeja-6).

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Scorers: Chetcuti 22; Debono 47; Bajada 72, 87; Woods 79 pen.

Yellow Cards: Camenzuli; Camilleri; Sammut; Svoboda.

BoV Player of the Match: Ivan Woods (Sliema W.).