Sliema W.: H. Bonello, I. Azzopardi, B. Said, C. Mattocks (M. Scerri), M. Bartolo, J. Chetcuti, I. Woods, O. Anonam (C. Nwoko), I. Ciantar (C. Gatt Baldacchino), A. Madzar, S. Pace.

Litex Lovech: T. Todorov, R. Popov, M. Venkov, C. Uras, W. Da Silva, A. Correa (K. Bibishkov), AR Da Silva (S. Manolev), F. Boudareve, P. Nikolov (S. Genvhiev), P. Zlatikov, I. Popov.

Referee: L. Mrkovic. Asst Refs: M. Tutun, M. Miric. 4th official: N. Panic.

Yellow cards: I. Ciantar, I. Woods,

Scorers: I. Popov 2, A. R. Da Silva

A depleted Sliema Wanderers yesterday were no match for a vastly superior Litex Lovech side from Bulgaria who dictated from start to finish to emerge convincing winners.

It was a one-way traffic affair as Sliema were never given the chance to settle down. The big difference which existed on the pitch showed how big the gap is when our local players are in action at club level.

It was a case where one could say that either Sliema were very poor yesterday or that Litex are a very strong side. I would go for the second option. In fact, I believe they ought to do very well in this season's competition.

Sliema had Roderick Bajada, Murphy Akanji and Alex Muscat missing from their line-up, while new signing Etienne Barbara could only watch the match from the stands. He was not registered in time to take part in this match. On the other hand, coach Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia gave debuts in Europe to Sharlon Pace and Matthew Bartolo, while another newcomer, Ian Azzopardi, was also playing his first match for Sliema in Europe.

In the first half, there was only one team in the picture and that was the visiting side Litex, who dominated right from the outset and were totally in command. In actual fact, it was surprising that Sliema managed to finish the first 45 minutes only one goal down.

The two Da Silvas, Washington and Ahore Roberto, both Brazilians, tore apart the Sliema midfield as they ran miles and miles to feed their strikers who were often crowded out by the nine-man Sliema defence.

For the Blues, Brian Said, Jeffrey Chetcuti and Ian Azzopardi had a good match at the back, while newcomer Matthew Bartolo showed some good flashes on the right flank. Woods tried hard in midfield, but rarely found the required assistance. Lone striker Madzar was too isolated up front to be able to cause any sort of worry.

Sliema risked heavily on the fourth minute when A. Da Silva came face to face with Bonello but the young goalie did well to parry his shot. From the rebound, Zlatikov seemed ideally positioned to find the unguarded net, but somehow, the Sliema defence managed to block in extremis.

It was one way traffic for most of the time as Litex took complete control of midfield with Sliema struggling to get past the middle line.

And on 13 minutes, it was again Bonello who saved the Sliema fort intercepting a dangerous cross from W. Da Silva.

Two minutes later, Sliema finally managed to move forward through new signing Matthew Bartolo. His fine solo move on the right ended in a cross that saw Venkov clearing just ahead of the diving Anonam. It proved to be the only real half-threat created by Sliema throughout the whole 90 minutes!

Litex finally were rewarded for their pressure in the 22nd minute when Plamen Mikolov hit home a first-timer off a Zlatikov cross: Bonello appeared to have dived late for the ball.

Against a superior team, Sliema could only try to avoid a hiding and they managed to contain their opponents although these indulged in penetrating through the middle rather than the flanks, giving a sort of advantage to the Sliema defenders.

Bonello never appeared to be in difficulty again as the Litex strikers were prevented from shooting at goal, expect from a distance.

However, on 38 minutes, off a Da Silva corner kick, Cedric Uras headed just over the bar.

Somehow or other, the Bulgarians failed to find the net again in the first half.

But seven minutes after the restart, they were on target for a second time. Alessandro Correa perfectly set Ahore Roberto Da Silva in the Sliema area and the Brazilian made no mistake with a hard left-footed shot.

Three minutes later, it was 3-0 as Ivelin Popov scored with another hard shot for his second of the evening.

On 68 minutes, Wellington Da Silva went close for the Bulgarians with a cute lob from the edge of the area, but the ball finished on the net.

With the match firmly in the hands of the visitors and victory secured, Litex slowed down their rhythm considerably. They played ball possession for most of the time and never seriously indulged in trying to increase their tally.