Balzan ....................1

Sliema W.................0

Ten-man Balzan registered an important win yesterday as they stunned Sliema with a Christian Caruana goal after just 10 minutes.

Ivan Zammit’s boys fought like lions against a pathetic Sliema side which was well away from the heights achieved during their last match against Hibernians.

The victory has enabled Balzan to move to the 10-point mark, while Sliema remain fourth on 13 points.

Balzan had injured goalie Camilleri, Licari and Francica missing. Stefan Giglio was returning to the side after having missed the previous two outings.

Sliema had goalie Henry Bonello and Mark Scerri missing.

The first half was pathetic, to say the least. Apart from the excellent shot by Caruana which resulted in the only goal, there was not much more to enthuse the small crowd present.

Sliema, perhaps, enjoyed the lion’s share of the attacking, but they never impressed, with top striker Ivan Woods well under the control of Giglio and Camilleri, who were superb in the heart of the Balzan defence.

Balzan were definitely the better organised side, so much so, they never faced any anxious moment in defence and were more dangerous than Sliema in their fewer attacks.

In the second half, there was not much change though Sliema showed more urgency in their play. However, they were unable to trouble goalie Tabone before the final 15 minutes, when they played in numerical superiority following the dismissal of Jamie Pace.

Sliema threatened first on the third minute. It was a Woods curling corner-kick that forced Balzan goalie Tabone to a somewhat difficult intervention, palming the ball away from underneath the crossbar.

But it was Balzan who opened the scoring on 10 minutes. It was Calcado who squared the ball to Christian Caruana for the latter to fire a fine volley into the top corner.

Seven minutes later, it could have been 2-0, but goalie Zammit denied Forace with an extended foot after the latter received a good ball from Calcado.

Four minutes from the interval whistle, it was Barbetti who went close for Sliema with a 20-metre shot that went just over.

And in added time, it was Jamie Pace who tested Zammit with a rising shot from the edge of the area, but the goalie was well placed to save.

On the hour, from a Calcado corner-kick, Pace headed goalwards and a melee ensued in front of the Sliema goal - it was resolved when Zammit saved Caruana’s effort in two attempts.

On 68 minutes, Balzan ended in 10 men when Jamie Pace was shown a second yellow card.

Sliema now pressed almost continuously in search of an equaliser but the nearest they got was on the 81st minute when an Alex Muscat effort skimmed the crossbar.

The final whistle saw Balzan still holding on to their slender result for a precious three points.

Balzan: F. Tabone, M. Mendy, Y. Camilleri, R. Garcia Conceicao, S. Giglio, R. Forace, D. Grima, J. Pace, P. dos Santos Calcado (M. Deanov), C. Caruana (B. Bondin), E. Da Silva (A. Agius).

Sliema W.: G. Zammit, A. Muscat, P. Barbetti (D. Ortega), J. Mintoff (M. Ciantar), A. Decesare, L. Ruggiero, C. Gatt Baldacchino, I. Woods, M. Muchardi (A. Laudisi), B. Muscat, S. Bianciardi.

Referee: E. Azzopardi

Asst refs: M. Scerri, A. Grech

4th official: P. Caruana 10

Scorer: C. Caruana

Yellow cards: P. dos Santos Calcado, D. Grima, M. Muchardi, P. Barbetti, B. Muscat, M. Mendy, I. Woods

Red card: J. Pace

Player of the match: C. Caruana

TMI Top 3: 1. S. Giglio; 2. A. Muscat; 3. C. Caruana