Sturdy Sliema outsmart Msida

Sliema Wanderers 2
Briffa 27, Muscat 74
Msida St Joseph 1
Calcado 90

Sliema Wanderers overcame Msida St Joseph to move closer to the top position in the standings. The Blues had a satisfactory outing and, perhaps, their display was only slightly tarnished with five of their players being yellow carded.

A sound first-half performance by the Wanderers was underlined by man of the match Roderick Briffa's goal on 27 minutes.

With the Blues wasting a number of good chances, Msida tried to claw their way back into contention in the second half. But, in reality, Patrick Curmi's boys rarely threatened to level the scores and when Alex Muscat notched Sliema's second goal the match was as good as over even though substitute Pedro Calcado hit a late consolation goal for the Saints.

Tyrone Farrugia was given the nod to lead the Msida attack while the likes of Marco Ourellio and Pedro Calcado were only included among the substitutes with Andre Rocha Da Silva missing to serve suspension.

On their part, Sliema handed a debut to defender Kane Paul Farrugia who was deployed on the right side as Ian Azzopardi partnered Branko Nisevic in central defence.

Newcomer Farrugia lofted a long ball towards the edge of the penalty area on six minutes for skipper Ivan Woods to beat the offside trap and latch on to the pass with a hard-hit volley that sailed over the bar.

On 18 minutes, Sliema nearly broke the deadlock. Bajada chipped a corner towards Woods who pounced in with an outstretched leg but the alert Matthew Camilleri somehow managed to clear.

It was one-way traffic in those initial stages with Sliema forcing the Saints to defend for long stretches.

Midway through the half, Woods turned provider with an inviting centre towards Muscat who mistimed his shot from a good position.

But, on 27 minutes, Sliema's persistence finally paid off as the Msida rearguard cracked under the pressure. Matthew Bartolo cashed in on some jittery defending to drive home a shot from a tight angle.

Eight minutes from half-time, Msida did create a decent scoring opportunity when skipper Dino Cachia caught the Sliema rearguard napping but his shot took a deflection off a defender for a corner.

The influential Calcado was introduced ten minutes after the restart and his presence had an immediate effect on the team as Cauchi found an opening but was blocked in time by goalkeeper Henry Bonello.

With Brazilian Calcado leading the Msida attack, Tyrone Farrugia reverted to a central defensive role and the team immediately became a more compact side.

But, despite being more conspicuous in the match, Msida failed to severely test Sliema as the clock weighed down.

Then, shy of the last quarter, Sliema all but sealed victory as Bartolo galloped down the left flank and slid a pass towards Muscat who scored with a cute flick from the centre of the box.

Msida were stunned but did manage a consolation goal in added time as substitute Ourellio delivered a deep ball from the left to Kurt Magro whose header came off the post. Nisevic's desperate attempt to clear was all in vain as the loose ball fell kindly to Calcado who rammed the ball home.

Match postponed

The Malta FA was forced to postpone the Premier League match between Hibernians and Tarxien Rainbows at the Hibs Ground yesterday due to a soggy pitch.

The derby was the second fixture from the weekend programme to be called off at Corradino following the postponement for the same reason of Valletta vs Qormi on Saturday.

The Malta FA said that a new date for these matches will be announced shortly.

Sliema
H. Bonello-6.5, A. Muscat-7 ('81 J. Chetcuti), I. Azzopardi-6.5, K.P. Farrugia-6.5 ('58 C. Ciantar-6.5), B. Nisevic-6.5, M. Bartolo-7 ('75 N. Turner), I. Woods-7.5, D. Severino-6, I. Ciantar-6.5, R. Bajada-7, R. Briffa-8.

Msida
M. Camilleri-6, S. Grima-5.5 ('80 F. Ourellio), A. Spiteri-5.5, S. Vella-5.5, T. Farrugia-6.5, D. Cachia-6.5, A. Farrugia-6, C. Camilleri-5.5, K. Magro-6.5, K. Mifsud-5.5, K. Spiteri-5.5 ('55 P. Calcado-6.5).

Referee: Saviour Tanti.

Yellow cards: K.P. Farrugia, Briffa, Bonello, Turner, Woods.

BOV Player of the Match: Roderick Briffa (Sliema Wanderers).