New signings lead Sliema's 'anti-shock' mission

Sliema Wanderers were in need of a quick fix after a barren spell of three matches without a win. A 2-1 defeat of Marsaxlokk provided the misfiring Blues with a psychological fillip but offered no respite from the injury woes dogging them.

On the contrary, fresh injuries to defenders Jeffrey Chetcuti and Kris Laferla put a further strain on Ed-ward Aquilina's threadbare resources but Sliema, headed by president Robert Arrigo, used their healthy financial position and pulling power to enrich their resources.

This is bad news for bottom-of-the-class St Patrick who today at 8 p.m. face a Sliema team not quite back to full strength but nonetheless bolstered by the acquisition of Malta forward Ivan Woods, formerly of Pietà, and Lubos Pernis from Slovakia.

"Now that the transfer has been completed, my chief cause of concern is to help my new club maintain their title challenge with a victory over St Patrick," Woods, who signed a four-year-contract yesterday, said.

Woods and Pernis are expected to lead Sliema's attack today as they look to perform an 'anti-shock' mission after their 1-0 defeat to Lija Athletic last Wednesday had sent shockwaves through the Premier League.

Sliema were in a position to sign Pernis as their third non-Maltese player after Nigerian-born Orosco Anonam officially acquired Maltese citizenship yesterday.

It remains to be seen whether MFA's complex rules on non-Maltese permit Sliema to field three foreigners and Anonam at the same time.

Central defender Darren Debono is back in the frame after serving a one-match ban but Chetcuti and Laferla are out. Lee Lombardi is also set to skip today's match as he does not play on artificial turf after a cruciate operation last season.

Stefan Giglio's comeback from a cartilage operation is pencilled in for the clash against Birkirkara the weekend after next but Claude Mattocks and Miguel Mifsud are still recovering from the same injury.

Another absentee from Sliema's team last Saturday was midfielder Joseph Farrugia but coach Aquilina hopes that the former Msida player makes the squad this evening.

Their meeting with St Patrick coming barely a week after an unexpected upset to Lija, the Sliema coaching staff and officials will surely have felt the need to warn their charges of the pitfalls they could come up against if they approach this game with an air of overconfidence.

That said, the Saints look just the opponents Sliema need in their bid to obtain a morale-boosting victory. Aside from the fact that St Patrick are the only team without a win in the top flight, they leaked five goals in their last outing against Valletta.

Bobby Giorev, the St Patrick coach, is likely to take heart from the return of captain Robert Cassar and Gordon Failla, who missed the 5-0 rout to Valletta with suspension, but Nigerian Peter Anizoba serves the last of his two-match ban following a red card in the 2-1 upset to Floriana. Another source of encouragement for the Saints is their performance in the corresponding first round fixture which they had only lost by the odd goal in three.

Top-six race

On paper, this evening's opening match promises more fireworks than the second as it pits against each other two sides embroiled in the race to make the Championship Pool.

Floriana and Marsaxlokk enter their direct confrontation aware that any loss of points would seriously harm their hopes of a place in the comfort zone for the last two months of the season.

Both sides failed to improve their prospects at the weekend, Marsa-xlokk losing to Sliema and Floriana crashing to Birkirkara.

Floriana's Willie Vassallo summed up the importance of today's match for his side.

"It's becoming a do-or-die situation," the coach said. "Our no.1 priority against Marsaxlokk is to avoid defeat to stay ahead of them. I'm sure my players will give it their best shot."

Today, Vassallo is expected to award a recall to Riad-Mynel Gango-Rtsa who has recovered from injury.

Atanas Marinov has a full squad at his disposal at Marsaxlokk but can only bank on two foreign players. Stanimir Georgiev has agreed to terminate his contract after he suffered an injury in his debut match against Pietà Hotspurs last week.

Marsaxlokk's shambolic defending in the moves leading to Sliema's two goals on Saturday may also prompt Marinov to reshuffle his backline.

In the first round match, Floriana beat Marsaxlokk 1-0.

Scorers

Birkirkara: M. Galea 11; Doda 6; Camenzuli 4 (1 pen.); Nwoko 3, Mifsud Triganza 3; Zahra 2, Ciantar 2, Dronca 2 (2 pens); Mallia, Tabone, Monye.

Floriana: Baldacchino 6; Wellman 5; Micallef 2, Cilia 2; I. Ciantar, Bajada, Da Silva (1 pen.).

Hibs: Cohen 10 (7 pens); Scerri 6; Schembri 5; Mbong 2, Chukunyere 2; Baldacchino, Pulis. Own goal - Abdilla (vs Pietà).

Lija: M. Gatt 3, Barry 3; Lanzon 2 (2 pens); Kristo, Azzopardi.

M'xlokk: Barbara 4 (1 pen) - now with Birkirkara; Paiber 3 (2 pens); Bogdanovic 2, Carabott 2, Templeman 2, C. Mamo 2, Trendafilov 2; Zammit, Asechemie, Draganov, Magro, Pace, Licari.

Msida: Porceddu 6 (3 pens); Nwoke 5; Sammut 3, Zammit 3; Theuma 2; J. Farrugia, Bajada; Micallef.

Pietà: Woods 12 (2 pens.); Frendo 5; Ortas 4; Nisevic 2, Calleja 2; Zahra, Okoh; G. Sciberras. Own goal - Gauci (vs St Patrick).

Sliema: Doncic 7 (2 pens); Giglio 4; Mattocks 3; Anonam 2, Said 2; Turner (1 pen), Debono, Mangion. Own goals - Giua (vs Msida); Theuma (vs Msida); S. Pace (vs Valletta); Baldacchino (vs Hibs).

St Patrick: Tanti 2, Caruana 2; Anizoba, C. Failla, Dozie, Fenech.

Valletta: Grima 9 (5 pens); Agius 8; Zammit 5; Galea 4; Vucasinovic 3, Cam-illeri 3; Marx, Forace, Fenech, Penchev.

Playing Today - (Centenary Stadium) 6 p.m. Marsaxlokk vs Floriana; 8 p.m. St Patrick vs Sliema.

Saturday - (National Stadium)

2 p.m. Msida vs Pietà; 4 p.m. Hibs vs Floriana.

Sunday - (Tedesco Stadium) 1 p.m. St Patrick vs Lija; 3 p.m. Marsaxlokk vs Valletta.

Standings