Versity Tal-Qroqq vs Mqabba Albions

Date: 9^th February 2008

Venue: Paola

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Versity chalk up 6^th win of campaign

Versity Tal-Qroqq      1

Mqabba Albions       0

(Half-time 0 – 0)

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Sponsors:

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

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This was an important match for Versity to consolidate third position in the standings. Versity failed to stamp overall authority over the match and at times they had to dig deep to control their opponents who were well organised. However, overall Versity showed better attacking qualities and if they took their chances better they could have won in an easier fashion. 

Camilleri opted to start off with the 4-4-2 formation in order to attack his opponents in their own area. The back four were made up of Sciberras on the right with Salerno on the left and Grima-Ferrante slotting into the two central positions. Bugeja and Cutajar occupied the two central midfield positions, Sammut was on the left and R Zammit on the right with C Zammit and A Mifsud leading the charge.

Versity took early control of proceedings but could not make any breakthrough. The midfield battle turned out to be the main focus and it swayed to and fro. Versity managed the ball possession better with Cutajar being highly involved in proceedings whereas Sammut was enterprising on the left flank. However, at times Versity were culprits of trying to penetrate from the left flank only or pushing too hard from the centre and at times isolating the right flank where R Zammit was operating. However, it is true that from the left Versity found the major openings and from a combination Salerno-Mifsud-Sammut, the latter shot over the bar from an ideal position. Mqabba were not sitting back and they had their own moments with their major threats coming from their left whereby they kept Sciberras very busy who however, played very well to keep his opponents at bay. In the first half the respective goal keepers were not troubled much with only a handful of shots being made by the teams which were dealt with relatively easily.

Versity seemed to come out from their blocks in the second half with more conviction. However, they had to endure some anxious moments when some well manoeuvred play by Mqabba could have resulted in Versity conceding an early goal. The usually dependable Grima who dominated in the aerial duels, was found wanting in some other interventions but Sciberras made amends. On the quarter mark Versity seemed more assertive in the attack approach work and from a nicely picked up ball in three-quarters pitch Bugeja (who had a very good match in the heart of midfieldd) evaded the tackles of two Mqabba players and placed a nice through ball for the oncoming Mifsud who contolled well before sending the ball at the back of the net to the delight of his mates. Versity seized the moment to continue with their good work to try and find a second goal but they did not manage to do so even though their midfield tried hard to find space and avenues to get their strike force into scoring positions. Changes were effected in the last 20 mins by Camilleri to bring in fresh legs and ideas as Sammut, R Zammit and C Zammit (who had to fight hard with the Mqabba defenders who rarely gave him any space) were replaced by Bonnici, Calleja and Schembri. The game continued to show interesting moments since Mqabba pressed hard to find an equalizer but their forays were dealt with by the Versity rearguard.      

This was another important result allowing Versity to make it a sixth win in the current campaign. Although the match could be seen as even balanced, the difference by some individual players shifted the balance in Versity’s favour and thus they could savour another victory. 

Formation:

C Abdilla     [6.5] – Satisfactory;

E Sciberras [7.0] – Worked hard;

D Grima     [6.0] – Good but shaky at times;

S Ferrante  [7.0] – Marshalled defence well;

M Salerno   [5.5] – Could be better;

A Cutajar   [7.0] – Directed proceedings;

P Bugeja    [7.5] – Orchestrated midfield well;

A Sammut  [6.5] – Enterprising on flank;

R Zammit   [6.0] – Tried hard;

A Mifsud   [7.0] – Scored the winning goal;

C Zammit  [6.5] – Combined well;

Subs:

K Bonnici    [6.0] – Tenacious;

R Schembri [6.0] – Satisfactory;

I Calleja      [6.5] – Menacing;

Coach & technical staff:

D Camilleri [7.0] – Well organised team.

Scorer:

A Mifsud;

Versity Player of the match: Paul Bugeja – He undertook general midfield duties and dictated the tempo. He was the master mind behind the eventual winning goal scored by A Mifsud.