Melita 0
Sliema Wanderers 0
Melita collected another useful point in their struggle against relegation when they held Sliema Wanderers to a goalless draw yesterday.
Buoyed by the stunning victory over champions Valletta in their previous outing, the Amateurs continued to show promise with another display of resilient play against the Wanderers who struggled to contend with their opponents’ high-field pressing.
Despite starting the match as the underdogs, Melita showed little fear to take on the more-quoted Wanderers as they held possession for long stretches and could have grabbed all points at stake had they profited from the chances that came their way.
The point gained pushes Melita to the ten-point mark and within striking distance of fellows-in-distress Ħamrun Spartans who have a game in hand.
Sliema will feel disappointed to have missed out on a victory that would have taking them closer to the top three in the standings. However, the Blues will surely admit that yesterday they were well below par and rarely threatened the Melita goal.
Alain Faccini was rewarded for his two-goal appearance against Qormi with a place in the starting formation ahead of compatriot Ariel Laudisi who had to settle with a place on the Sliema bench.
Melita coach Patxi Salinas effected just one change to his the team as the returning Matthew Borg replaced the suspended Michael Valenzia.
Strangely, no one-minute silence was observed before kick-off in respect to former Malta FA Technical Director Ronnie Attard who passed away yesterday.
Melita were off the blocks full of energy, seizing the initiatives in those early stages with their best chance coming on 10 minutes when Julian Galea sent a firm volley flashing past the Sliema upright.
The Blues were forced to make their first substitution soon after when skipper Alex Muscat had to leave the field injured.
Melita threatened again on 20 minutes, this time Manuel Sierra Camacho’s free-kick was blocked in two attempts by goalkeeper Glenn Zammit.
At the other end, from a Faccini corner, Ivan Woods could only head the ball over from a central position.
The match fell into a lull but the Amateurs almost grabbed an opener eight minutes from the break when Sierra Camacho made inroads on the left before firing a vicious strike that was pushed away by Zammit. Galea’s rebound finished into the side-netting.
Meanwhile, Sliema’s struggles continued as the second half got underway as Melita remained the more enterprising side.
Sliema coach Alfonso Greco was clearly unhappy with his team’s performance. He withdrew the disappointing Ruggiero and roped in Laudisi and the Blues finally went close to an opener.
On 70 minutes, from Faccini’s centre, Woods directed a dipping header past goalkeeper Guillermo Gabilondo Garcia but the ball came off the bar.
Two minutes later, Ciantar showed great speed to move past three defenders but his low drive was blocked by Garcia.
Salinas handed Daniel Cabanillas Ayllon his Melita debut when he replaced Vukanic 11 minutes from time as the Amateurs never gave up hope of winning the match. Reports said this was Vukanic’s last match for Melita as he will be considering new options in the January transfer window.
Late on, Melita shouted penalty when Stefano Bianchiardi looked to have stopped the ball with his arm inside the Sliema box but the referee deemed otherwise and overruled the Amateur’s protests.
Melita: G. Gabilondo Garcia-6, J. Vukanic-6.5 (79 D. Cabanillas Ayllon), M. Sierra Camacho-7, I. Tufegdzic-6.5, G. Gribbon-6.5, M. Martin-6, A. Caruana Scicluna-6 (87 J.P. Attard), L. Micallef-6, J. Galea-6.5, L. Sammut-6 (79 M. Attard), M. Borg-6.
Sliema Wanderers: G. Zammit-6, A. Muscat (12 M. Ciantar-6), L. Martinelli-5, P. Barbetti-5, M. Scerri-6, L. Ruggiero-4 (60 A. Laudisi-5), C. Gatt Baldacchino-6, I. Woods-6.5, A. Faccini-6, B. Muscat-6, S. Bianchiardi-6.
Referee: Glenn Tonna.
Yellow cards: Gribbon, Vukanic, Barbetti, Borg, Laudisi.
BOV Player of the match: Manuel Ramon Sierra Camacho (Melita).