A Third Defeat in Poor Showing

/in /by

Following the first win registered last week against Mosta, all Spartan faithful expected the team to start making progress from the two initial defeats of the campaign. This was not to be however, as this match against Balzan was probably the poorest showing so far. Our team seemed like an army with no weapons as although we kept most of ball possession we did very little to penetrate our opponents and never really put our opponents in uneasy situations. On the contrary, Balzan managed to harm us with much less possession but with much more tactical discipline.

The all-important goal came in the 29th minute when Djordjevic imprudently lost possession in midfield and committing a foul to stop the ensuing danger. Nevertheless, Balzan’s Djuric opened the score with an inch-perfect free kick. Everybody expected a bold comeback from the Spartans but this was never to materialise. Balzan allowed us to pass the ball horizontally throughout the game even though some reckless play meant that the Spartans continuously lost possession. However, once the ball moved vertically, it seemed too easy for the Balzan players to anticipate every ball and the Spartans surely lacked the fighting spirit that should characterise any player who dons the Spartan shirt. In fact, our only threat towards goal was a Sasere header than ended just wide, following a Gambin cross. As for the rest of the game there is little to report, with Hamrun trying to keep possession until some sloppy passing or vertical play meant that Balzan put the Hamrun rear-guard under pressure. It could have been worse had Kaljevic not missed a penalty by shooting incredibly wide from the spot. Unfortunately, the Spartans ended the game all over the place and it was evident that although our team is technically superior, we lost the match due to poor tactical discipline.

 

Line-Up

  • Bonello
  • N’Tow (62’ Borg)
  • Gojkovic
  • Dielna (75’ Mercieca)
  • Micallef (62’ Lagzir)
  • Marcelina
  • Gambin
  • Djordjevic (46’ Oyama)
  • Mbong
  • Soares
  • Sasere