Late goals maintain equilibrium

Msida St Joseph 1
Sliema Wanderers 1

Msida St Joseph and Sliema Wanderers ended their first-round commitments with the sharing of the spoils in a keenly charged game yesterday at the National Stadium.

The match erupted into life in the last five minutes with two quick goals. Sliema took the lead against the run of play through a well-taken header by prolific striker Ivan Woods. Rather than throwing in the towel, Msida rallied back immediately and levelled the score through Tyrone Farrugia.

The final stalemate has kept Msida St Joseph second in the standings, one point adrift of leaders Marsaxlokk, but more importantly it has virtually all but sealed their place in the Championship Pool bar an unlikely slump in performance in the second round.

The ambitious Saints have set their sights on European football come next season and under coach Patrick Curmi, the squad has improved by leaps and bounds and has established itself as one of the most in-form teams.

Following Sliema's disappointing start to the campaign and the resignation of coaches Edward Aquilina and Hugh Caruana, the Blues appointed Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia as the team's mentor.

With a break spanning just over a month, Farrugia had ample time to assess his squad's potential during training session.

His baptism of fire against high-fliers Msida could not have proved a sterner test as the Blues were missing a number of key players through injury. Claude Mattocks, Zdenek Svoboda and Stefan Giglio were all on the casualty list whereas Jeffrey Chetcuti could only earn a place among the substitutes as he fully recovers from surgery on his fractured arm.

Meanwhile Italian defender Massimo Di Lello was another notable absentee as he sat out due to suspension.

Despite these absentees, Sliema still enjoyed a satisfactory outing and Farrugia should be confident that he can marshall the side to a change in fortunes in the second round.

Shy of the first quarter, the Blues carved a decent move as Orosco Anonam dispossessed Stefano Grima and with an open path towards goal, the seasoned striker unleashed a low shot that narrowly missed the target.

At the other end, Ousseni Zongo nearly had the better of Murphy Akanji with a menacing shot that sailed wide off the post.

Woods did manage a crafty shot at goal on 20 minutes that brought the best out of Omar Borg.

On 31 minutes, Msida's foreign trio nearly masterminded the opening goal. Zongo buried the ball deep into the far end as Daniel Nwoke towered well to connect to the cross with a slick header. Akanji nearly lost his balance but an outstretched arm by the experienced goalkeeper checked the ball only for Babatunde to storm in with a rasping shot that sailed over the crossbar.

Four minutes from half time, Sliema were forced to replace David Carabott who sustained a facial injury in a mid-air clash for the ball with Nwoke.

Farrugia quickly re-shuffled his side with Alex Muscat deployed on the right flank of defence and substitute Noel Turner patrolling the left side of midfield.

Seconds before half time, Sliema nearly opened the score. Chucks Nwoko's persistence inside the area paid off as the striker slipped a low cross to the unmarked Muscat whose powerful shot rebounded off the post.

Three minutes after the interval, Msida were found wanting in defence as Anonam managed to deliver a pass towards the surging Nwoko who miscued his strike and the chance was lost.

The Saints slowly came more into the picture and on 56 minutes Akanji was called to make a timely save as he palmed away Nwoke's shot.

On 51 minutes, Babatunde outwitted Clifton Ciantar and Sharlon Pace in defence as the witty striker drifted along the goal-line before squaring the ball towards Peter Pullicino whose shot was turned into a corner by Akanji.

Despite having to defend some tricky situations, the Blues still managed to inflict some anxious moments on the Msida rearguard. On 62 minutes, Nwoko did well to connect to a corner as his header seemed destined for goal only for Pio Sciriha to repel the effort off the goal-line.

Nine minutes from time, Pullicino thought he had done enough to give his side the lead as he lobbed the ball over Akanji only for his effort to come off the crossbar.

Msida kept up the pressure and two minutes later a Zongo shot was partially blocked and substitute Dino Cachia missed a sitter as he skewed the rebound wide off the post.

The Saints paid dearly for these misses as they found themselves trailing four minutes from time. Substitute Mintoff lofted a cross towards the unmarked Woods who sent a powerful header past Borg.

The Blues' joy was shortlived as Msida soon drew level a minute later, Tyrone Farrugia rose high to meet Zongo's corner with the ball hitting the back of the net.

In stoppage time, Msida were reduced to ten men when Babatunde was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Seconds before the final whistle, Sliema could have netted the winner as substitute Mintoff was again at hand with an inch perfect cross towards Woods whose shot at goal was somehow blocked by Borg.

Msida: O. Borg-7, P. Sciriha-7.5, S. Grima-7, T. Farrugia-7.5, J. Mifsud-6.5, P. Fenech-6.5, O. Zongo-7.5 ('90 S. Vella), P. Pullicino-7, D. Nwoke-7, I. Babatunde, R. Baldacchino-6 ('75 D. Cachia).

Sliema: M. Akanji-7, A. Muscat-6.5, B. Said-6.5, R. Bajada-7, D. Carabott ('41 N. Turner-6.5), I. Woods-6.5, O. Anonam-7 ('73 J. Mintoff), I. Ciantar-6, C. Nwoko-6.5 ('81 M. Galea), S. Pace-6, C. Ciantar-6.

Referee: J. Attard.

Scorers: Woods 86; Farrugia 89.

Yellow cards: I. Ciantar, C. Ciantar, Pullicino, Mifsud.

Red card: Babatunde 90.

BoV player of the match: Murphy Akanji (Sliema Wanderers).