SLIEMA WANDERERS 0 QORMI 0

Neither Sliema nor Qormi were able to savour a winning return this afternoon as their encounter ended goalless.

Qormi almost took the lead with a cleverly worked free-kick on 22 minutes as Duncan Pisani switched the ball back to Frank Temile whose teasing cross was met by Albert Bruce shooting just wide.

It took 36 minutes for Sliema to seriously threaten the opposition when Michael Mifsud was left unmarked to head goalwards Gnabouyou’s cross at the far post but Zoran Levnaic cleared into a corner.

Greco’s thoughts on Sliema’s performance at half-time, were reflected in his bold decision to introduce newcomer Filippo Talato and Trevor Cilia at the expense of Andrea Pisanu and Mifsud respectively. Both substitutes made an immediate impact on the match, first Talati forcing Matthew Farrugia to turn his drive around the post. Then, Cilia shot across the face of goal following some excellent footwork by Gnabouyou.

Scoring opportunities proved hard to come by as the two teams lacked fluency in their play. Sliema enjoyed a slight edge but Qormi gave little away at the back. In the 81st minute, Temile rifled wide for Qormi after cutting in from the left inside the box in a typical surging run but shot wide.

One minute from time, Sliema had an excellent chance to grab all points when Cilia’s corner sparked a goalmouth scramble but Farrugia kept his eyes on the ball to avert danger from Talati’s attempt.