MFA XI denied at the death in Wiener match

The MFA’s guests for the 1950-51 Christmas Tourney were Wiener Sports Club of Austria. This was Wiener’s second tour to Malta; their previous visit was way back in season 1929-30.

The Austrians had a great reputation to live up to and they did not disappoint the thousands who flocked to the Stadium to see them in action. Wiener beat St George’s 4-0 on Christmas Eve but the next day, they found Sliema Wanderers a hard nut to crack. Wiener beat the Blues 2-1 with Kaubeck scoring the winner five minutes from time.

Wiener defeated the UK Services 2-0 in their third match in Malta before trouncing Hibs 8-0 in thundery conditions. They extended their winning run with a 2-1 success over Floriana.

Wiener’s toughest game of the tourney was that against the MFA XI, played on Sunday, January 7, 1951.

The MFA XI played their best game for many a season. They were quick on the ball and eager to attack.

The home side were first to push forward. Salvinu Schembri slid a through-pass to Tony Nicholl but the centre-forward hit the ball over.

A few minutes later, Nicholl made a feint and let the ball roll to Tony Vella who passed to Schembri. The latter drove the ball towards Pullu Demanuele who was in a very good position. Instead of shooting, Demanuele let the ball reach Camilleri who shot hard and straight at goal. The ball, however, scraped the outside of the post with goalkeeper Schmidt well and truly beaten.

The second half continued, more or less, in the same fashion as the first.

Nicholl had three shots at goal but the Austrian goalkeeper stood his ground. Demanuele wasted a golden opportunity to open the scoring when he missed a penalty but made amends a few minutes later when his spectacular shot left Schmidt standing.

The Austrians made a strong reaction. Miester ran through on the right wing. He was stopped by Sunny Borg Cardona but the ball fell to Zeichmeister who shot straight into the hands of Ġużi Alamango.

Wiener intensified their pressure on the Maltese defence but the home team held firm.

The crowd of over 22,000 spectators were nervously checking their watches. The game moved into injury time and the MFA XI were 1-0 ahead when, like a bolt out of the blue, Kaleta scored a dramatic equaliser for the visitors.

It was a bitter pill to swallow. Up to that moment, the Maltese had contained their opponents only to suffered a last-second blow.

There was no time left to restart the game and a few seconds later, referee BSM Barbara, of the RMA, signalled the end of the 90 minutes.