Versity Tal-Qroqq vs Tarxien AFC

Date: 22^nd December 2007

Venue: Paola

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Versity win to keep up the chase   

Versity Tal-Qroqq      3

Tarxien AFC             1

(Half-time 1 – 1)

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Sponsors:

Mitsubishi Motors; Philip Toledo IT Solutions; Ristorante Sottovoce – M’Skala

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Chalking up their third straight win, Versity started the second round of matches with an important victory which now establishes them in the top part of the standings. Versity were superior but they made life difficult after having a sloppy start whereby it seemed as though the team was under the festive influence.

Versity had some important elements missing but Camilleri continues to tinker around with his formation and the response from his squad is impeccable whereby the players change but the system remains intact and the results for the time being cannot be any better. With Ferrante (down with flu), Bonanno (fever), Calleja (not fully fit), Williams (injured) to name a few, Camilleri continued deploying the now renowned 4-5-1.

Versity played with a flat back four, with Sciberras playing on the left since Salerno was suspended, Caruana played on the right with the central duo being made up of the returning Grima and Ellul Soler who undertook general defensive duties. Abdilla remained in goal for this match and he generally had a positive outing. Camilleri played Cutajar in the holding midfield position aided by the returning Bugeja and Schembri who between them gave support to C Zammit who played as the lone striker. Mifsud played once more on the left flank whereas there was a start on the flank for the diminutive but enterprising Bonnici.

Versity kicked off the match but they were unrecognizable in the first 10 minutes whereby they hardly managed to make a good move. An innocuous harmless ball should have been easily dealt with by Abdilla but he somewhat messed up the ball giving away a cheap corner. From the resultant kick Tarxien opened the score. Ellul Soler let his opponent steal a march on him and he rose above him to send the ball into the back of the net. Shell shocked Versity tried to regroup to get back on level terms. After around the quarter mark they started playing better and creating the chances. From a good move on the flank the ball feel nicely to C Zammit who calmly controlled and slotted the ball into the back of the net for a merited equalizer. This set the tone for the remaining period whereby Versity continued dictating matters and chances fell to Mifsud with the goaler saving well, whereas Bugeja missed a good chance by firing slightly off target and on another occasion he hit the woodwork. Thus Versity failed to turn their superiority into anything concrete. On their part Tarxien relied on the counter attack and these were more often than not well controlled by the backline who gave nothing away.

As the second half got underway one could witness that Versity charged out in search of the second goal. However, they could not find an opening and they also had to take care of some dangerous moves played by Tarxien whereby one found the defenders alert to avert any potential dangers. One such move was cleared in extremis by Grima (who played despite a muscle strain) to thwart the striker from shooting on goal. In other occasions it was Sciberras, Caruana or Ellul Soler. In midfield Bugeja was making good movement and finding interesting space to set-up his mates as was Cutajar who seemed to make the most of his midfield role orchestrating passes and moves. Versity managed to take the lead courtesy of Bonnici when a headed ball by Tarxien keeper found itself in his path and without thinking twice looped a shot over the recovering goaler for Versity’s lead. Moments later however, Tarxien were awarded a dubious and controversial penalty when Grima was deemed to handle in the box. From the resultant penalty-kick Abdilla dived low to his right and saved well. This could be deemed a turning point since moments later Versity increased further their lead. Before scoring the third goal, Versity had a legitimate goal disallowed for hand ball when the linesman deemed Grima to have handled when he headed in a rebound. However, Bugeja ensured that the good moment of Versity is not spoilt and he picked up the ball in three quarters pitch jinked and dribbled past three players before slotting the ball coolly under the advancing goalkeeper. This practically closed off formalities. Camilleri in the mean time started to make the changes in order to ensure that the momentum was not lost. In came R Zammit for the injured Cutajar, and Sammut for the tiring Schembri. Versity still had to work hard since Tarxien tried to get back into the match but Versity themselves had some other half chances but failed to take any.

As the final whistle drew the match to an end it signaled that Versity’s Yuletide will be nice and cheerful. They hit good form in December whereby they won all their matches including the knock out scoring 10 goals in the process and conceding just one. Time to take a rest but the upcoming fixture against the current leaders in early January will be a testing and important one since it will either place Versity within reach of the zenith or else they could start seeing their hopes of challenging taking a setback.

Formation:

C Abdilla [7.5] – Decisive penalty save;

E Sciberras [7.5] – Reliable as always;

J Ellul Soler [7.0] – Apart from initial blunder played very well;

D Grima [7.5] – Tenacious considering injury problem;

D Caruana [7.0] – Generous;

A Cutajar [7.5] – Orchestrated play well;

K Bonnici [7.5] – Never stops;

P Bugeja [8.0] – Commanding and crowned with great goal;

A Mifsud [7.0] – Effective on left flank;

R Schembri [7.5] – Provided flair;

C Zammit [7.5] – Kept opponents busy;

Subs:

A Sammut [6.5] – Solid on attacking flank

R Zammit  [6.5] – Techincal and hardworking;

Coach & technical staff:

D Camilleri [8] – Well deployed but Bonnici’s use and the midfield trio rewarded his choice

Scorers:

C Zammit; K Bonnici and P Bugeja

Versity Player of the match: Paul Bugeja – today gave that added touch of class in absence of Ferrante, played numerous passes and he supported well the lone striker whilst also scoring the third with a fine solo effort.