Sliema Wanderers 3
Woods 68 pen; Faccini 78, 90;
Qormi 1
Chetcuti 45;
Sliema Wanderers produced a stirring second-half display to take all points from a match they were losing at half-time to move up to fourth place in the standings.
Effectively outsmarted by a well-organised Qormi side, Sliema were re-energised by a switch in tactics and personnel after the break.
In the end, it was substitute Alain Faccini who made all the difference, scoring twice to turn tables on the Wanderers’ opponents.
Having lost goalkeeper Henry Bonello to injury, Sliema coach Alfonso Greco gave Glenn Zammit the chance to shine.
Likewise, Qormi coach Jesmond Zerafa made only one change from the loss to Valletta in his team’s previous outing with the returning Leighton Grech filling the void left by Jonathan Bondin.
Qormi’s 4-2-3-1 module featured Sebastiano Siritto as the attacking fulcrum in front of Aboubakar Bello-Osagie, Joseph Chetcuti and Grech.
The Yellow-Blacks started well with Siritto shooting just over the bar within the first three minutes.
A few moments later, Grech fluffed his chance by opting for a pass instead of shooting and the Sliema defence cleared.
The Blues barely pressed the ball high up the pitch and instead retreating into a 4-1-4-1 defensive shape. Their approach, when in possession, was more direct than usual, seeking to use the pace of Ariel Laudisi, Luigi Ruggiero and Beppe Muscat on the break.
Up front, Ivan Woods looked for service from the flanks while Paltemio Barbetti was the central playmaker.
On 15 minutes, Ruggiero’s centre took a deflection off Luke Sciberras and the ball still landed at the feet of Muscat who was unmarked. He hit the ball hard towards goal but Matthew Farrugia denied him with a smart save.
But it was Zerafa’s men who started to show more tenacity in their play and outmuscled the Wanderers until the rest of the half.
Sliema could not hold on until the interval and on 45 minutes Sciberras sent a precise ball over the Wanderers’ defensive line and Chetcuti ran through to reach the ball before beating Zammit with a perfect lob.
At half-time, Greco switched to a 4-2-3-1 configuration as Laudisi and Ruggiero were relieved from their defensive duties to establish a three-pronged attack with Woods.
They started the second half on the front foot but, for all their possession, much of Sliema’s attacks lacked bite.
So, the Italian mentor first introduced Faccini for Laudisi and a few minutes later Omar El Ghaouti replaced Ruggiero. The duo joined Woods up front and looked for the service of Alex Muscat on the flank while Beppe Muscat provided protection from midfield.
Within a minute, the score was level as Sliema finally breached Qormi’s right flank.
It was an excellent pass from Clifford Gatt Baldacchino for Alex Muscat whose header hit Alessio Cassar’s arm and referee Malcolm Spiteri pointed to the penalty mark.
From the spot-kick, Woods sent Farrugia the wrong way.
There was a sense of inevitability about what came next.
Faccini made it 2-1 on 78 minutes. Alex Muscat saw his shot blocked by Farrugia with the ball falling into the path of the agile winger who buried his shot behind the goalkeeper.
To their merit, Qormi pushed forward again, and they almost drew level six minutes from time, as Chetcuti drew a superb save from Zammit with a rising shot.
Siritto was replaced by Vincenzo Pisani with four minutes left and the Italian was soon in the thick of things as he set off on a mazy run on the right. He sped past three defenders but his following shot crashed against the Sliema bar.
But the value of Faccini’s speed caught out Qormi’s high defensive line as he held off Kris Thackray’s challenge to slot the ball home just before the final whistle to seal a valuable win for the Wanderers.
Sliema Wanderers
G. Zammit-6.5, A. Muscat-7, L. Martinelli-6, P. Barbetti-6, M. Scerri-6, L. Ruggiero-6 (67 El Ghaouti-5), C. Gatt Baldacchino-6.5, I. Woods-6 (87 J. Mifsud), A. Laudisi-5 (57 Faccini-8), B. Muscat-7, S. Bianciardi-6.
Qormi
M. Farrugia-6, K. Thackray-6, J. Chetcuti-7.5, A. Bello-Osagie-6, L. Sciberras-7, M. Gauci-6, S. Siritto-5 (86 V. Pisani), E. Bilboa Zarate-5, A. Cassar-5, S. Wellman-6, L. Grech-5 ( 81 M. Bartolo).
Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.
Yellow cards: Martinelli; Chetcuti; Scerri; B. Muscat; Bello-Osagie; Farrugia; Bianciardi.
BOV player of the match: Alex Muscat (Sliema Wanderers).