All square between leading duo

Msida St Joseph 1
Balzan Youths 1

Playing in front of the biggest crowd of the season, Balzan Youths and Msida St Joseph, the leading duo in Division One, shared honours in a match Msida should have won hands down.

Balzan Youths were hampered by the absence through suspension of their experienced Yugoslav midfielder Nebiosa Jankovic but that alone cannot be used as an excuse for an unambitious performance which saw the leaders only mustering one shot at goal throughout 90 minutes.

Msida, on their part, dominated the match from start to finish, creating countless attempts at goal which, on most occasions, were thwarted by the defiant Balzan goalkeeper Paul Bugeja or his defensive colleagues who played well despite the unrelenting Msida pressure.

Veteran Jeffrey Farrugia, Steve Sadowski, David Agius, Christian Micallef and Alan Deidun were in tremendous form to frustrate the Msida forwards time and again.

It was Balzan who, in their first attack of the game, nosed ahead. Only six minutes had passed from the start when a Kurt Coleiro cross was handled by Jesmond Delia and a penalty was awarded.

Mark Marlow took the penalty and was lucky to beat Msida goalkeeper Omar Borg as the latter got a hand to Marlow's shot but it somehow squirmed through his legs and into the net.

This was to be Balzan's only shot at goal as from then onwards, Joseph Grech's Msida team pressed forward relentlessly.

On 14 minutes, an Ibrahim Tarik cross found Daniel Nwoke who controlled the ball but his low drive finished inches wide.

Five minutes later an Adrian Farrugia cross was met by Nwoke whose header missed the target.

In the 25th minute, from a Karl Vella Petroni cross, Jeremy Agius headed well from close range but Bugeja was on hand to save well.

Msida had a golden opportunity to draw level on the half-hour when they were given a penalty after Balzan defender Deidun cleared a dangerous Cauchi cross with both hands.

Jeremy Agius took the penalty kick but Bugeja effected a fine save, turning the Msida striker's shot away for a corner much to Balzan's relief.

Despite surviving a number of scares, Balzan still struggled to venture outside their own penalty area as the Saints continued to dictate matters.

At times it looked as if there was only one team on the pitch, so dominant were Msida.

On 33 minutes, Nwoke fed Agius who shot wide from a good position. The goal Msida's perseverance fully deserved came two minutes from the end of the first half.

Nwoke rose to win a ball in the Balzan penalty area before releasing Agius who curled the ball into the net amid the celebrations of the vociferous Msida faithful.

The second half was played on the same lines as the first. Three minutes after the restart, Nwoke shot high and wide following some good work by Tarik and Agius.

On the hour, an Agius corner for Msida was met by Adrian Farrugia who saw his drive hitting the foot of the post. Four minutes later, another Farrugia strike was partially saved by Bugeja, the ball came to Nwoke who appeared to have tapped the ball home only for Deidun to make a last-ditch clearance over the line.

Nineteen minutes from the end, Nwoke nodded the ball towards Agius who was again denied by Bugeja.

Msida maintained the momentum despite missing a host of inviting opportunities. On 76 minutes, a Cauchi free-kick fell into the path of Tarik who was again foiled by the inspirational Bugeja.

Two minutes into injury time, Cauchi again tested Bugeja but the Balzan goalkeeper was up for the challenge, blocking his shot on the ground to enable Balzan to maintain their one-point lead on Msida.

Msida: O. Borg, J. Briffa, J. Delia, T. Farrugia, F. Cauchi, K. Vella Petroni (K. Montanaro), I. Tarik (A. Formosa), J. Agius, D. Nwoke, D. Gatt (J. Farrugia), A. Farrugia.

Balzan: P. Bugeja, S. Sadowski, D. Agius, C. Micallef (K. Farrugia), A. Deidun, J. Farrugia, N. Arpa, M. Marlow (P. Buhagiar), K. Coleiro (M. Galea), M. Caruana, S. Zahra.

Referee: Lorry Sammut.