Malta 1

Montenegro 1

A last gasp goal by substitute Radiboye Golubovic earned 10-man Montenegro a draw in yesterday evening’s friendly at the Hibernians Stadium.

At the end, although the score should be considered fair, there was huge disappointment for the local boys who conceded a goal at such a late stage which deprived them of a win, even if it was a friendly match.

Coach Farrugia had five key players missing from the line up – Jesus Camilleri, Ben Camilleri, Mark Scerri, Steve Pisani and Jean Paul Farrugia.

But despite these absences and that late equaliser, it was still a very encouraging performance by the local youngsters who showed fighting spirit throughout the 90 minutes.

The main disappointment in this Malta side – apart from the last gasp equaliser by the visitors - was the large number of occasions when they gave the ball away – sometimes stupidly.

In the first half, Montenegro exercised territorial superiority after Malta took an early fourth minute lead with a splendid goal.

But despite their possession, they rarely troubled goalie Sultana and it was Malta who had other clearcut chances which they failed to take advantage of.

In the second half, one expected our visitors to throw everything into attack but it was also mainly thanks to Malta’s defensive attitude that they did so although they rarely appeared dangerous.

So defensive were Malta in this half that our boys rarely appeared inside the opponents’ area.

And at the end, it was not a surprise that Montenegro finally equalised even if they did not appear too dangerous before the goal.

Malta opened the scoring with a fine goal after just four minutes. It was Rowen Muscat who received a ball from Triston Caruana to fire a rising shot beating goalie Velimirovic all ends up.

On the 11th minute, Malta should have been two-up. In a swift counter-attack, Miguel Ciantar advanced on the left to cross into the centre where the onrunning Leighton Grech came face to face with the goalkeeper only to lob over him but also over the unattended post.

Moments later, it was Clyde Borg who lifted the ball well over the bar from an ideal position.

Despite their territorial superiority, Montenegro never came close to scoring and it was Malta again who threatened through a Terence Vella free kick, turned to corner by Velimirovic.

Montenegro finished in 10 men on the 32nd minute when in an off-the-ball incident, Vesovic floored Luca Martinelli and referee Marco Borg did not hesitate to show him the red card.

On 36 minutes, it was Triston Caruana who tried his luck from just outside the area, but the ball finished wide of the Montenegro post.

Soon after, Malta appealed in vain for a penalty when Ciantar appeared to have been floored in the area, but Mr Borg, close to the action, waved play on.

In their only chance in added first half injury time, Montenegro striker Nikolic hit well over the bar from a good position.

Early in the second half, Seratlic had a good effort going just over the bar. Soon after from a Seratlic corner, it was Bogdanovic who had his effort palmed out from over the line by Sultana.

The match fell far below expectations as Montenegro tried to claw their way back into the game with the Maltese defending solidly and never allowing them a clearcut opportunity.

On the 73rd minute, referee Borg disallowed a Stefan Nikolic headed goal because of an infringement.

Malta appeared to be playing with confidence at the back, but against all expectations, Montenegro obtained an equaliser on the 90th minute when off a cross from the left, the ball was headed forward and Golubovic was on hand to slide the ball home past the helpless Sultana.

Malta: S. Sultana, L. Martinelli (I. Grech), Z. Muscat, O. Bugeja, R. Muscat, L. Grech (L.J. Agius), T. Vella (S. Grech), T. Caruana, M. Ciantar (K. Farrugia), M. Gauci (D. Grima), C. Borg.

Montenegro: P. Velimirovic (N. Scekic), M. Radulovic (R. Golubovic), A. Sofranac (M. Bakrac), Z. Tomasevic, M. Radisic (H. Pepic), A. Kaluderovic, D. Bogdanovic (S. Gruda), M. Vesovic, A. Kajevic (A. Dokovic), E. Seratlic (N. Mijuskovic), S. Nikolic.

Referee: M. Borg.

Asst refs: I. Spiteri, J. Camilleri. 4th official: C. Lautier.

Scorers: R. Muscat 4, R. Golubovic 90.

Yellow cards: Z. Tomasevic, E. Seratlic, R. Golubovic,

Red card: M. Vesovic