Historic title beckons for leaders Marsaxlokk

Marsaxlokk are close to reaching the 'promised land'. Victory over Msida St Joseph at the National Stadium tomorrow will hand the long-time league leaders the coveted championship that has been eluding them for the past few seasons now.

In reality, there's a chance that celebrations in the picturesque village down south kick off 24 hours earlier as Marsaxlokk could well be declared champions if second-placed Sliema, who trail in second place by eight points, fail to beat Birkirkara this afternoon.

During the week, Brian Talbot tried to cool down the enthusiasm that has hit the club ahead of tomorrow's match. He wants his players to concentrate fully on the match as he looks to finish off the job this weekend.

"The title is there for the taking," Talbot told The Times yesterday.

"But we still haven't won anything yet. We have an important match coming up that could give Marsaxlokk an historic success and we are all focused to complete the formalities by beating Msida.

"People might think that it is just an easy one for us. But football matches are won on the pitch and I expect all the players to prepare for the Msida match with the same level of concentration and commitment as they have shown throughout the season."

After a strong start to the championship, which saw them occupying second place for most of the first phase, Msida have failed to maintain their consistency levels and have now skidded to sixth place in the Championship Pool. Talbot, however, is not making much of Msida's position in the standings and is expecting a tough match just the same.

"People seem to forget that in the first two rounds Msida were second in the standings, and there were some who even suggested they could challenge for the title," Talbot said.

"True, their performance in the Championship Pool was somewhat poor but that does not mean that they are a spent force. We have beaten them three times this season but on each occasion we had to play our best football to take all points.

"Msida have some excellent players... so it will not be easy for us to take the points we need."

Talbot has an almost full squad at his disposal. Nigerian striker Haruna Doda has failed to recover from a calf strain but defender Steve Wellman is back from a wrist injury and will be included in the squad.

Msida will not be able to field their usual fearsome African trio in attack today as Nigerian Daniel Nwoke is currently in Finland to complete his transfer to First Division side Tampere United.

After Nwoke's departure, Msida's attacking responsibilities will fall on the shoulders of Ousseni Zongo, the Burkina Faso player, and Nigerian Ibrahim Babatunde, provided the latter shakes off a niggling knee injury.

Defenders Tyrone Farrugia and Stacey Vella are still recovering from knee trouble as well and will again miss out.

Although Msida have been a far cry from the team that took the championship by storm at the start of the season, coach Patrick Curmi is still positive about his team's chances of delaying Marsaxlokk's celebrations tomorrow.

"There's no hiding that our performances in the Championship Pool have not been up to the standard we set in the first phase," Curmi said.

"Unfortunately, injuries to key players, bad luck and the loss of a key player such as Peter Pullicino have all taken their toll on our prospects in the Championship Pool.

"Still, despite having failed to win a match so far, I feel that our performances have been steadily improving and I'm upbeat on our chances of completing our league campaign on a high."

Curmi admitted that Msida's main target now is the FA Trophy competition that would earn them qualification to European football for the first time in their history.

"Our aim in this final phase of the season is to qualify for European football," Curmi said.

"The only way to attain that goal is to win the FA Trophy. Now, all our efforts are concentrated to reach that objective.

"My main task is to prepare the team well and there is no better preparation than a good run of results that would infuse some confidence in the team.

"Facing Marsaxlokk is always a difficult test given the quality they possess. But we too have good players that can pose problems to them... we can get a satisfactory result against Marsaxlokk."

Results so far: Marsaxlokk vs Msida St Joseph 3-0, 1-0, 2-0.