Msida St Joseph 1
Spiteri 59
Sliema Wanderers 0
Sliema Wanderers' season of woe continued last night as they were beaten by lowly Msida St Joseph 1-0.
The Saints produced a defensive display to secure their first win over Sliema in six years - (Sliema-Msida 1-4, August 29, 2003) - as Stephen Azzopardi's side failed to shrug off a stuttering start to the Premier League campaign that only yielded mere dividends so far.
Sliema had been heavily criticised after losing four league matches but they answered all the questions in fashion against champions Hibernians on December 12.
However, the Wanderers yesterday faded after a bright start and left the stadium frustrated after wasting all opportunities that came their way, particularly in the opening half.
Football is full of mysteries, but the primary puzzle yesterday was precisely what happened at the interval as in the second half roles were so completely reversed that it looked like the two teams had exchanged shirts during the break.
Msida took the game to their opponents and did it with all the force of Zoran Levniac's command behind them. With the former Ħamrun player moving up, Adrian Farrugia, Kevin Mifsud, Adam Spiteri and Miguel Ciantar began to find space.
Sliema, however, almost snatched an early lead when Cedric Sciberras miskicked the ball straight to Jean-Pierre Mifsud Triganza and the Sliema striker sent in Ivan Woods for a shot that rolled wide of the far post.
When Clayton Failla swung in a cross from the left, no Msida player was near the ball and only a superb sliding block from Tyrone Farrugia, tracking back, prevented Woods from scoring. The loose ball ran into the path of John Mintoff but he miscued his shot.
Little had been seen of Msida as an attacking force, save for tame shots by Spiteri and Levniac.
On 35 minutes, Mifsud Triganza forced Manuel Bartolo into a save under his bar from a diagonal cross-cum-shot.
Roderick Baldacchino is prone to the occasional lapse and his short back pass almost put Bartolo in trouble. Then, just before the half-time whistle, Mifsud Triganza connected to a cross by Alex Muscat but the effort flashed across the box to no avail.
During lemon time, Msida coach Mark Marlow must have given his players a short, but effective, lecture in being more positive because his players made a strong start to the second half.
On 56 minutes, Mifsud, quite unopposed, simply carried the ball at pace through the left flank and slipped it into the path of Adrian Farrugia, to his right.
The pass was so precise in line and length that Farrugia was able to hit the ball on the run, his right foot sending it crashing against the bar.
Sliema, did not heed the warning, though, and when their defence hesitated in meeting Levniac's cross, Spiteri nipped in front of his marker and headed Msida in front.
Adrian Farrugia was Sliema's tormentor-in-chief and he robbed Mark Scerri before setting up Miguel Ciantar. The former Sliema player fired goalwards but keeper Simon Agius somehow kept out his point-blank shot.
Sliema struggled to respond and on 70 minutes Muscat whipped the ball into the box only for Woods and Mifsud Triganza to get into each other's way on the edge of the box.
That summed up the Wanderers' moment of confusion. Strange, though, after a first period of such sustained possession and promising play.
Msida St Joseph
M. Bartolo-6, L. Micallef-6, R. Baldacchino-5, C. Sciberras-4.5, T. Farrugia-6.5, A. Spiteri-6.5, K. Mifsud-6.5, A. Farrugia-7 ('90 I. Curmi), Z. Levniac-8, E. Lattes-6, M. Ciantar-6 ('81 A. Formosa).
Sliema Wanderers
S. Agius-6, A. Muscat-5 ('75 N. Turner), I. Azzopardi-5, J. Mifsud-5, R. Fenech-5 ('82 I. Ciantar), M. Scerri-5, J. Mifsud Triganza-6.5, I. Woods-5, L. Dronca-5, J. Mintoff-5, C. Failla-6.
Referee Clayton Pisani.
Yellow cards Spiteri, Scerri, Muscat, Turner.
BOV player of the match Zoran Levniac (Msida SJ).