Versity Tal-Qroqq vs Cospicua Dynamos

Date: 20^th January 2008

Venue: Paola

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Last gasp goal denies Versity of point

Versity Tal-Qroqq      2

Cospicua Dynamos     3

(Half-time 1 – 2)

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Sponsors:

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

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A goal scored in the last moments of the game left Versity once more empty handed. Playing on the unusual Sunday morning, Versity had a number of missing elements and this limited the way Camilleri could change the game if he required to. However, the starting eleven played their heart out but it was not to be. Once more Camilleri opted to start with a 4-5-1 formation.

The biggest headache for Camilleri was in defence whereby he had a number of missing players due to injury. Bonanno (back injury which will likely leave him out for a number of weeks), Ellul Soler (groin injury), Caruana (unavailable) and Grima (muscle problem) though the latter was on the bench, left little choice and Camilleri played Sciberras in an unusual  central position with Ferrante whereas Buttigieg played as right back and Salerno was on the left. C Agius returned as goaler. The central midfield was composed of Cutajar, Bonnici and Schembri (who supported the striker), whereas Calleja played on the right with Sammut on the left. C Zammit was deployed as has now become customary as the lone striker.

Versity took off well from the blocks and started moving the ball confidently. After the initial studying period Cospicua started to make headway and caused some problems. Versity did not just look and they themselves were causing some concern of their own to the Cospicua rearguard. Around the quarter mark Schembri managed to rob his opponent of the ball and this fell nicely and without thinking twice let fly a beautiful shot from the edge of the box completely beating the Cospicua custodian to hand Versity the lead. Cospicua were not to be discouraged and they started to heap pressure and Versity were going through some anxious moments as the back. From a free kick the Versity rearguard failed to get a header, Abdilla was late to leave his lines and the Cospicua striker nipped in the equalizer. Versity regrouped but they could not find another breakthrough and to their dismay even conceded a second goal on the stroke of half-time as the defence once more failed to clear well and were duly punished with a shot that went in between the outstretched hands of Agius and the post. Seconds later the referee signaled the end of the first half.    

Versity had all the intentions to recover the lost ground as the second half got underway but for the first part of the they did not manage to trouble Cospicua. After a short while from the restart R Zammit was introduced for the generous but tiring Schembri. Cutajar tried hard to thread openings for his colleagues whereas Sammut and Calleja rarely managed to get behind their defensive lines. Cospicua created their own chances but one way or another Ferrante aided by his defensive colleagues averted the dangers. As the minutes ticked away and the match was heading to its final moments Camilleri decided to play the half-fit Grima by replacing Bonnici and move Ferrante to a midfield position in an attempt to get the equalizer. Barely two minutes elapsed and it seemed as though the change was inspirational as Ferrante found R Zammit who played the ball well to his brother C Zammit who controlled and drilled into the bottom corner for an equalizer. The galvanized Versity team started to press hard even seemingly intending to try and look for the winner but the usually dependable Ferrante lost a poor ball in midfield which was quickly played forward by the Cospicua midfield who found his strike partner who eluded Sciberras with the run and fired past the onrushing Abdilla to notch the winning goal and break the gallant efforts of the Versity team. The final whistle brought an end to a combative match for which Versity will feel hard done.      

A second consecutive loss very likely dooms Versity to fight it out for third place with the leading duo difficult to reach. Unfortunately some defensive lapses coupled with poor passing paved the way for a defeat which is hard to swallow. However, Versity has shown that they are a team to be reckoned with and they can well reach a good target and finish third in the campaign and if there is some luck even play it out for promotion.

Formation:

D Abdilla [6.0] – Not at his best;

C Buttigieg [6.5] – Played well;

E Sciberras [6.0] – Tough outing;

S Ferrante  [6.0] – Could be better;

M Salerno   [6.0] – Under constant pressure;

A Cutajar    [7.5] – Orchestrated play well;

R Schembri [7.0] – Great goal;

A Sammut  [6.5] – Hard working;

K Bonnici    [7.0] – Industrious;

I Calleja      [7.0] – Tried hard;

C Zammit [7.0] – well taken goal;

Subs:

D Grima [6.0] – Late cameo;

R Zammit [7.0] – Fitted well;

Coach & technical staff:

D Camilleri [7] – The team was well organised. He was limited if when he needed to change things around in view of numerous missing players apart from being let down by some costly errors from his players.

Scorers:

R Schembri

C Zammit

Versity Player of the match: Adrian Cutajar – Another good midfield performance whereby he continues to provide the required dynamism to the team.