Kondev on mark to foil casual Sliema

Pietà Hotspurs 2
Sliema Wanderers 2

The New Year seems to have given Pietà Hotspurs a new lease of life. Winless in all 13 league matches played since the start of the 2006-2007 season, Pietà are unbeaten so far this year.

Having broken their duck with a 1-0 victory over Hibernians last weekend, Pietà's young guns stole the show again yesterday when holding Sliema Wanderers to a draw.

Although Sliema dominated large swathes of possession, they never really managed to take the sting out of a waspish Pietà side who again exhibited remarkable resilience in coming back from a two-goal deficit.

Svetlan Kondev was the toast of Pietà with two expertly-taken penalties that left Murphy Akanji, the Sliema keeper with a knack to save penalties, rooted to his spot.

The 2-2 stalemate was greeted with joy by the Pietà team but not so by Sliema who, despite extending their unbeaten streak to seven matches, squandered an opportunity to overtake Msida St Joseph in second place.

Rumen Angelov Galabov, Pietà's new signing, was thrust straight into the thick of things by coach Carmel Busuttil, yesterday serving the first of a two-match touchline ban. With key defender David Camenzuli missing the match due to injury, the lanky Galabov was assigned a central role in Pietà's four-man defence.

Domenic Mifsud was back in the frame for the Hotspurs after his suspension-enforced absence in the 1-0 defeat of Hibs.

Czech midfielder Zdenek Svoboda earned a recall to Sliema's starting line-up after injury had kept him out of the 1-0 victory over Birkirkara last month.

A lively showing in the second half of the match against the champions rewarded Chucks Nwoko with a slot in Sliema's initial XI at the expense of Mark Galea.

Nwoko was quick to repay Ray Farrugia's faith. Having made the better start to the game, Sliema had their noses in front after less than 12 minutes, Nwoko rising high to head Svoboda's set-piece cross past Andrew Hogg.

As the first half panned out, the Hotspurs intensified their efforts to make a contest of it but Sliema stayed on cruise control without threatening to widen their margin.

After Kondev had recorded Pietà's first genuine attempt with a central shot, saved by Akanji, Sliema doubled their lead 10 minutes before the end of the first half.

When Ivan Woods dashed into the box to put pressure on Galabov, the Bulgarian panicked and his miscued square pass only served to tee up Nwoko who had all the time in the world to pick his spot from point blank.

Less than two minutes later, Pietà earned themselves a lifeline when Carl Pulo's run into the Sliema box was halted by Ian Ciantar who appeared to have nudged the young Hotspurs striker off balance.

Referee Kevin Azzopardi pointed to the spot and Kondev despatched the penalty with aplomb to cut the deficit for his team.

Creative football proved elusive in the opening stages of the second half. The mediocrity on the field of play was in keeping with the subdued atmosphere on the terraces - what a contrast from Tuesday when the stadium hosted more than 17,000 spectators for the Birkirkara vs Milan friendly.

Ten minutes into the second half, Sliema could have restored their two-goal lead but for Hogg's tipping save on an Alex Muscat header.

For all their territorial supremacy, Sliema were finding it hard to translate their possession into goals. Svoboda's free-kick whistled past the far post and a low effort from the workaholic Roderick Bajada was easily blocked by Hogg.

Bajada's unrelenting running in the centre was the main reason why Sliema enjoyed more possession than their plucky adversaries.

At the other end, Pietà almost struck against the run of play but Martin Deanov's diagonal shot from close range brought a fine stop from the well-placed Akanji.

Farrugia made his first substitution midway into the second half when Orosco Anonam came on for Woods who was not fully fit after being down with flu for most of the week.

Anonam ran straight into the Pietà half to take up an advanced position alongside Nwoko.

For the second time in the match, Pietà got back on level terms through a penalty with 14 minutes of the game remaining. A quick, sweeping Pietà move featuring a host of players ended with Mifsud sending in a cross towards the centre, the ball brushing Sharlon Pace's right hand.

The referee immediately blew his whistle and Kondev again had the better of Akanji to the delight of the few Pietà fans.

Five minutes from time, Pietà created another fluid move which caused anxiety among the Pietà defenders. Sliema's disappointment could have deepened had Edward Herrera not sent his piledriver over the bar.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Svoboda summoned a free-kick which finished over and a Kondev lob was stopped by Akanji.

Pietà: A. Hogg-6, B. Sciberras-6.5, M. Deanov-7, Q. Refalo-5 ('76 G. Goodlip), C. Pulo-6.5, C. Sammut-6, S. Kondev-7, D. Mifsud-6 ('90 S. Ciscaldi), E. Herrera-6, R. Galabov-5, D. Kokavessis-6 ('87 C. McKay).

Sliema: M. Akanji-6, A. Muscat-5.5, B. Said-5.5, S. Pace-6, I. Ciantar-5.5, J. Chetcuti-6.5, I. Woods-5.5 ('69 O. Anonam-5), C. Ciantar-5 ('80 M. Galea), Z. Svoboda-6, C. Nwoko-6.5, R. Bajada-7.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.

Scorers: Nwoko 12, 35; Kondev 37 pen., 76 pen.

Yellow cards: Herrera; Ciscaldi.

BoV player of the match: Chucks Nwoko (Sliema).