Valletta St. Pauli vs. Versity Tal-Qroqq

Date: 25^th October 2008

Venue: San Gwann

_____________________________________________________________________

Citizens too strong for gallant Versity

Valletta St. Pauli        3

Versity Tal-Qroqq      0

(Half-time 1 – 0)

_____________________________________________________________________

Sponsors:

Kasco – Suppliers of all types of printing material

____________________________________________________________________________

Versity faced the current champions and although they put a brave performance the Citizens were too strong and unfortunately Versity had to bow their heads for yet another defeat – the third in a row. This has been one of the worst starts in the club’s history but one is hopeful that things will take a better turn from the next match.

The team was fielded with a cautious approach in view of the opponents’ strength. Camilleri changed some personnel with Borg and Salerno slotting into the backline and C Zammit reinstated in the starting line-up. Camilleri thus basically went for a 4-1-4-1 formation to try and protect his defence as much as possible.  

The citizens intentions were laid out from the word go to attack and find an early opener to make their game easy. However, Versity were well organized and although they often had to chase their opponents and resort to lots of covering work from the midfield they were never overrun by the Citizens. Cutajar, Calleja and J Grima worked hard to protect the defence from the continuous forthcoming attacking maneuvers and the team from the capital had to resort to some distant shots which were well saved by Agius who had a very good game oozing confidence into his mates. The first quarter of an hour saw Valletta trying to find the opening goal although Versity was playing on the break and found space to keep Valletta on the alert. In fact C Zammit tried from the distance and he came close. On another occasion J Grima ran through the middle but his lay off was not well exploited and a good chance was lost. However around the 22^nd minute Valletta found the breakthrough. A high ball found Ferrante in a tussle with the forward who managed to avoid the goal keeper, evade the returning D Grima and slot the ball in the back of the net. This eased the Citizens nerves who were had the vast of possession. Versity tried to make a fight but they were restricted by well organized Valletta backline. The half-time whistle brought an end to the first half.  

The second half saw Versity coming out in search of the equalizing goal even though this seemed pretty remote. However, their chances of any comeback received a set back when they were 2-0 down after a few minutes of the restart. Valletta piled pressure and this saw the Versity rearguard clear in extremis on more than one occasion. A foul at the edge of the box gifted a free kick in an interesting position. Inexplicably Agius who was having a good outing positioned himself badly and this allowed the taker to find the back of the net with relative ease. It was a pity since this dampened Versity’s chances to make an unlikely recovery. Camilleri in the meantime changed the tiring Cutajar with R Zammit and few minutes later the exhausted J Grima for M Muscat. Valletta continued pressing for further goals and in a tussle for the ball the referee whistled for a most dubious penalty amidst the protests of Versity players. The penalty taker duly converted and this simply was the last straw for Versity. At 3-0 down they were truly dead and buried. Buttigieg relieved C Zammit and Versity tried a timid reaction to find a consolation but neither this was to materialize. A few minutes later in another run for the ball the Valletta striker tripped the Versity defender and just to the disbelief of everyone the referee pointed once more to the spot. The protests especially from D Grima were strong but to no avail. It is true decisions which did not change the fac of the match but in which the referee who till then was having a good match got two completely wrong decisions. Somehow the Valletta penalty taker shot high…..Poetic justice! Who knows? The game drew to an end with Versity heading for the third defeat in as many matches. The morale is surely not at its best but based on the commitment of this match the players should look forward to take this performance into their upcoming fixtures since they will surely get a positive result.   

Formation:

D Agius [7.0] – Good performance marred by free-kick;

A Borg [7.0] – Solid match;

S Ferrante [6.5] – Reliable;

D Grima [6.5] – Generous;

M Salerno [6.5] – Steady;

A Cutajar [6.5] – effective;

I Calleja [7.0] – energetic display;

K Bonnici [6.5] – tenacious;

C Zammit [6.5] – worked hard;

J Grima [6.5] – tireless work;

C Williams [6.5] – isolated;

Subs:

R Zammit [6.0] – fitted well;

M Muscat [6.0] – tried hard;

K Buttigieg [6.0] – late arrival;

Unused Subs:

J Ellul Soler;  

Coach & technical staff:

D Camilleri [6.5] – team well fielded but the opponents were better

Versity Player of the match: David Agius – he had a steady performance, providing much needed confidence to his mates with some very good saves. A pity he was unsure in his positional play during the free-kick;