STEPHEN AZZOPARDI
Sliema Wanderers and Msida SJ confirmed their presence in Division One’s Playoffs Final. Sliema Wanderers continued their positive attitude as they came out victorious against Qormi with the end result of 5-2. On the otherhand Msida SJ also gave a stunning performance, winning 10-2 against Mriehel ESS.
In the first encounter, despite having several goaling opportunties, the first half ended goalless for both teams. It was in the first minute of the second half, that Sliema’s Uros Markovic opened the score through a fierce shot. A few minutes later player coach Aleksander Ribic managed to double the score. From this point onwards, Qormi moved forward and reduced the matters through James Tabone. Two minutes later Qormi lost the golden opportunity to level the matters, when Ryan Gilmour Cassar shot high from the second penalty spot. However this was not the end for Cassar as the the ball he put at the back of the net, not only equalised the score but gave high hopes to Qormi. Sliema recovered their forces and made it a point to win this game. Aleksander Ribic, Nikolay Filipov and Darren Aithchinson sealed the final score of 5-2.
In the following match, last Thursday’s evening, Msida SJ were definitely superior to Mriehel ESS. Msida were already leading 5-0 before the end of the first half. George Frendo, Armando Djepali, Mohammed Lamari, Herbert Spiteri and Floren Manea scored a goal in both the first and second half. In the second half, Ayoub Ahmed and Kamal Edgeli scored for Mriehel ESS, in their attempt to reduce the difference against their stronger opponents.