Rabat-Qormi 0-0

Bottom side Rabat Ajax won a precious point in this goalless draw with Qormi at the turn of the new year, but nobody would have lamented had the Magpies bagged the three at stake, judging from their second half performance.

Rabat were depleted further by the departures of midfielder Clifford Gauci and striker Moises Avila Perez during the festive break, but welcomed back Pavel Velimirovic in goal after a long absence.  Jonathan Bajada and Malcolm Licari were handed starts.

On this peformance, there was encouragement for Rabat beyond the failure to win the match.Thanks to their good defensive work, they kept a clean sheet, only for the third time this season, following a similar goalless draw against Qormi and a 1-0 win over Tarxien Rainbows in the first round.

With Volpi’s replacement, new coach Karel Zeman, at the helm, Qormi’s starting line-up showed some changes, as Del Guidice, Santaguida and Innocenti were all absent. Owen Bugeja and Gianluca Nucera were named among the substitutes. Marco Petrassi and Roderick Sammut were the two central defenders.

With a dispaly of contrasts, they were good  in the first half but, struggling to break down Rabat’s well organised defence, they were completely outplayed in the second.

Qormi could afford to play three forwards, Ghanian Isakka operating from the middle, with Alfred Effiong and Joao Gabriel wide on the flanks. The overlaps of Bondin down the right provided the Rabat rearguard with further embarassment.

Qormi’s first real threat came past the quarter hour. Gabriel took the ball in his stride from the right, with his rising shot clipping the Rabat bar.

Then keeper Velimirovic rushed out of his line to smother the danger as Isakka advanced towards goal. And towards the half hour, Bondin tested Velimirovic with a central shot from the edge of the area.

Shortly before the break, Effiong connected to Caruana’sa through ball, but Gauci did well to block him inside the eight-yard box.

Rabat’s best opportunity came midway through the half. Licari flicked the ball with his head towards the advancing Micallef, whose diagonal low drive was parried by keeper Farrugia. The Qormi shot stopper was only called into action again to hold out a Micallef shot on the stroke of halftime.

But for all the teams’ generous efforts, the match remained boring in a barren first half.

Rabat were by far the better side after the interval and carved enough opportunities to at least win the game, with Qormi totally eclipsed by the Magpies’ superiority.

Pendas had already gone close with two free kicks from outside the area and on 55 minutes Micallef headed a Pendas cross over. Towards the hour, Licari’s glancing header, on a Pelaez corner, was held out by the Qormi goalkeeper.

On 62 minutes, the Rabat skipper Falzon distinguished himself with some classy defending when caught outnumbered against three Qormi players. He robbed Gabriel of the ball with a timely tackle inside the area to deny Qormi.

Rabat carved out another good chance on 76 minutes. On a promising attack, Micallef dribbled his way inside the Qormi area and as the keeper rushed off his line, he lay the ball in the path of substitute Aidn Azzopardi, only to see his shot blocked again by keeper Farrugia.

The woodwork denied Rabat a winner as David Azzopardi’s shot clipped the post on 77 minutes and the stalemate prevailed till the very end.