Stars battle bravely to secure first point

Floriana 0
Vittoriosa Stars 0

Vittoriosa Stars bagged their first point of the season after holding Floriana to a goalless draw yesterday.

Coming into the match on the back of four successive defeats, the Stars were determined to stop the rot and finally succeeded at the expense of a Floriana team who were far from consistent in their opening four matches.

Winston Muscat’s Stars produced a battling display which saw them soak the pressure for most of the 90 minutes with goalkeeper Simon Agius putting up a man-of-the-match performance as he frustrated the Greens with a string of fine saves.

Floriana again looked short in ideas upfront with Michael Mecerod and Ivan Woods struggling to make an impression against an organised Vittoriosa defence. In the end, they had to settle for a meagre point that will do little to boost their ambitions of a top-six berth.

Floriana coach Todor Raykov had to make two changes to the team that beat Ħamrun Spartans 2-1 in their previous match.

Bulgarian defender Ivailo Sokolov was dropped to the bench with Duncan Pisani given the nod to start alongside Brian Said. Midfielder Kiril Dzhorov failed to recover from a foot injury. He was replaced by Pablo Doffo.

Vittoriosa were forced to do without Pierre Aquilina who suffered an injury against Sliema Wanderers last week. Clayton Micallef was handed a start by coach Muscat who was boosted by the recovery of Nigerian striker Anthony Ewurum. Brazilian forward Edison is still out of the reckoning though.

The Greens had the ball inside the Vittoriosa net after only three minutes when Christian Caruana did well to turn a pass into the path of Woods who tapped home past Agius. However, the ‘goal’ was annulled as Woods was adjudged to have been in an offside position.

Four minutes later, Tyrone Farrugia almost hit the target but his header was kept out in two attempts by Agius.

Vittoriosa responded a minute later when a Leighton Grech shot was neutralised by Lofti Saidi.

On 10 minutes, Caruana should have put Floriana ahead when he headed just wide from a Christian Cassar corner.

After that early flurry, the game lost much of its allure with chances suddenly coming at a premium. In fact, we had to wait till the half-hour mark for the next chance when Mecerod raced to a Cassar pass and saw his shot hit the foot of the Vittoriosa post before rolling out of play.

Six minutes from the break Carlos Compagnoli did well to avoid two Floriana defenders before firing a grounder that fell off target. In added time, Mecerod reached a Cassar throughball but the American forward’s first-time shot was pushed away by Agius.

Floriana maintained the initiative after the break and a Doffo cross on 52 minutes was turned towards goal by Woods but Agius was well positioned to block.

Raykov was clearly upset with his team’s performance and close to the hour he withdrew Joseph Borg and sent on Ryan Darmanin as he looked to add more firepower to his team’s forward line.

On 61 minutes, Caruana stormed into the Vittoriosa box and placed the ball into the path of Woods whose headed attempt was excellently tipped over by Agius.

Eighteen minutes from time the woodwork again denied Floriana when Darmanin saw his effort bouncing off the bar.

Floriana kept up the pressure in the final stages but for all their possession they rarely troubled Agius as their attacking manoeuvres looked confused with the Stars holding out for a hard-earned point.

Floriana
L. Saidi-6, B. Said-6, P. Doffo-5.5, M. Micallef-6, C. Caruana-7, M. Mecerod-5.5 (‘76 L. Agius), I. Woods-6, D. Pisani-5, J. Borg-5.5 (‘58 R. Darmanin-6), T. Farrugia-5, C. Cassar-6 (‘63 C. Borg-5).

Vittoriosa Stars
S. Agius-7.5, C. Micallef-6, S. Pace-6.5, J. Chetcuti-6.5, C. Compagnoli-6, D. Cachia-6 (‘69 M. Brincat-5), K. Mifsud-6, J. Santos Silva-6.5 (‘85 K. Sammut), A. Ewurum-5.5, S. Wellman-6, L. Grech-7.

Referee: Clayton Pisani.

Yellow cards: J. Borg, Compagnoli, C. Borg, Brincat, Woods, Ewurum, Farrugia, Pace.

BOV Player of the match: Simon Agius (Vittoriosa Stars).