Sliema Wanderers 4
Bajada 2; Woods 22; Bjedov 24; Azzopardi 56
Tarxien Rainbows 2
Bueno 26, 45
Sliema Wanderers maintained their winning streak with a 4-2 victory over Tarxien Rainbows that enabled the Blues to climb to within a point of leaders Hibernians and Birkirkara.
Two consecutive draws, including one against champions Valletta, had sounded the warning bells that newcomers Tarxien Rainbows were no pushovers in the top flight. Yesterday, Noel Coleiro's side left the stadium empty-handed but their attacking resolve even when trailing by a three-goal margin earned them the praise of football critics.
The Rainbows found themselves three goals down inside the opening 25 minutes and were staring at the prospect of suffering a heavy defeat before staging a tremendous comeback which saw them bridging the deficit to just one goal before the end of the first half.
It could have easily been a case of shooting fish in an aquarium had Sliema converted half the chances they created in the first half. Instead, an uneasy Stephen Azzopardi had to urge his players to show more sharpness in front of goal.
Ian Azzopardi's fourth goal after the interval was the right tonic for the Wanderers as Tarxien were finally conquered even if the likes of Rodrigo Martin Cariaga and Daniel Mariano Bueno maintained their fighting spirit till the end.
The first four minutes of the encounter turned out to be eventful for both sides as Sliema took the lead in the second minute. The Rainbows defence was still unsettled when Roderick Bajada whipped in a low shot from just outside the area which sailed into the net to give the Wanderers the best possible start.
Two minutes later, however, Tarxien made their presence felt as Cariaga tried to curl a free-kick over the defensive wall only for the ball to be partially repelled by the Sliema defence. With the loose ball up for grabs, Manuel Caruana pounced on the chance with a flashing shot that flew over.
Tarxien defender Luke Vella Critien was being given a torrid time by Matthew Bartolo as the Sliema winger embarked on a series of darting runs down the left flank.
On 10 minutes, the hardworking player chipped a perfect cross towards the far post for the sprinting Alex Muscat to slam a volley wide off the post.
Sliema's control on the match was evident and inside the space of two minutes the Wanderers scored twice to heap more misery on the Rainbows.
On 22 minutes, Roderick Briffa was the provider and Ivan Woods the converter as the Sliema striker controlled the ball with his back to goal before firing the ball into the net.
Tarxien hardly had time to ponder what hit them when goalkeeper Anthony Curmi was again picking the ball from the back of the net as Muscat curled a cross inside the area and Kosta Bjedov had a rather easy task tapping the effort past Tarxien's goalkeeper.
With the floodgates threatening to open and sweep the newcomers off their feet, Coleiro's lads staged an unlikely comeback commencing with Bueno's goal on 26 minutes. Cariaga's cross found Bueno well positioned to flick a low shot into the net.
When Bajada cut through the Tarxien defence on 35 minutes and pulled the ball back towards the unmarked Woods, a fourth goal seemed in the offing but incredibly, the Sliema striker dragged his shot wide.
Sliema kept creating numerous chances and five minutes from half-time it was Muscat's turn to squander an incredible chance as he hit over the bar from a metre out.
Tarxien bridged the gap even further on the stroke of half time as Bonello and the Sliema rearguard failed to deal with Schembri's header after a Cariaga freekick and Bueno squeezed in to flick the ball into the net.
Three minutes into the restart, Azzopardi unleashed a powerful shot from a free-kick that rebounded off the woodwork as Sliema sought to establish a comfortable lead once again.
The Sliema defender was not to be denied twice in succession as he towered brilliantly to meet Bajada's corner and head into the net to make it 4-2 before the hour.
The Rainbows never-say-die attitude nearly saw them scoring their third goal on 67 minutes as Bonello made a good save to deny substitute Grech.
As the minutes ticked away, Tarxien found it increasingly difficult to create any danger to the Wanderers who easily administered their lead till the end.
Sliema
H. Bonello-6, A. Muscat-6.5, I. Azzopardi-7, B. Nisevic-6, K. Bjedov-6.5 ('76 N. Turner), M. Bartolo-7.5, J. Chetcuti-6 ('85 C. Ciantar), I. Woods-6.5, I. Ciantar-6 ('57 D. Severino), R. Bajada-7, R. Briffa-7.
Tarxien
A. Curmi-5.5, S. Sadowski-5 ('46 O. Grech-5.5), A. Galea-5.5, M. Caruana-6, I. Carapic-6, W. Chircop-6 ('69 M. Zammit), M. Tanti-5.5, R. Schembri-5.5, D. Mariano Bueno-6.5, L. Vella Critien-4.5 ('59 P. Sciriha-5), R. M. Cariaga-7.
Referee: Alan Mario Sant.
Yellow cards: Cariaga, Chircop, Azzopardi
BoV player of the match: Matthew Bartolo (Sliema Wanderers).