Woods scores on debut to put Sliema back on top

St Patrick 0
Sliema Wanderers 1

Ivan Woods made a 'fairy tale' debut for his new club Sliema Wanderers last night. The in-form Malta international forward scored the match-winning goal that saw the champions beating bottom-placed St Patrick 1-0 and join Valletta at the top of the Premier League standings.

Sliema and Valletta share top spot with 32 points, six clear of third-placed Hibernians and seven ahead of Birkirkara when all four teams have now played 14 matches.

Few could debate Sliema's legitimacy of their win as they were simply a cut above their opponents despite having several regulars missing.

After a slow start they started to pile up the pressure on their struggling opponents with new boy Woods and young wingback Alex Muscat a constant thorn in the Saints defence. Sliema could have won by a wider margin had it not been for the woodwork which denied them on more than one occasion.

But, in the end, the Sliema clan will have settled for their one-goal winning margin as the three points won left them on course to regain their early season consistency.

The controversial Malta FA regulations on foreign players, introduced last summer, yesterday impeded the Wanderers from fielding all their four non-Malta-born players even though Orosco Anonam, of Nigerian origins, has now being granted Maltese citizenship.

Earlier yesterday, the Wanderers learnt that they could not field Anonam at the same time with their foreign trio of Murphy Akanji, Danilo Doncic and newcomer Lubos Pernis, of Slovakia.

The MFA regulations state that Anonam does not 'qualify' as a Maltese player in our Premier League as he did not play for three years in MFA youth competitions.

An ironic twist to Anonam's position is that now he is free to play for the Malta national team if he gets selected by Horst Heese and Carmel Busuttil!

In the face of this unexpected complication, Sliema coach Edward Aquilina opted to leave goalkeeper Murphy Akanji on the bench with Pernis and Doncic joining Anonam in the starting formation as the Wanderers foreign complement.

Matthew Camilleri made his debut for Sliema in goal after his transfer from Floriana.

As expected, Woods was included in the starting line-up following his move from Pietà while Adrian Mifsud was given a part in a three-pronged attack along with Pernis and Doncic.

Joe Brincat, Jeffrey Chetcuti and Rupert Mangion joined the club's long injury list which also includes Claude Mattocks, Stefan Giglio, Miguel Mifsud and Joseph Farrugia.

St Patrick were without striker Peter Anizoba Chizoba and injured defender Arnold Buttigieg.

With so many forward players in their team many thought Sliema would hold most of the initiative but instead it was St Patrick who threatened to break the stalemate first.

After only three minutes, Thomas Caruana forced Camilleri into a diving save with a rasping angled shot.

In the 25th minute Caruana was again denied by Camilleri when the Sliema goalkeeper blocked the young St Patrick forward's insidious free-kick.

Sliema's first attempt at goal arrived a minute later from Woods who ably controlled the ball inside the area before unleashing a powerful drive that smashed against the bar.

Doncic then had an effort that just missed the upright.

It was all Sliema now. Turner's free-kick was nodded by Anonam towards Woods who failed to hit the ball home.

But Woods was not to be denied and a minute from the break the Blues took the lead.

Turner drifted the ball towards Pernis, the lanky Slovak, with a clever pass, released Woods who fired the ball into the St Patrick's net.

When ends were changed Sliema kept hold of the initiative as they looked for a 'killer' goal. Anonam went agonising close on 57 minutes when his powerful drive hit the bar before finishing over.

A minute later Doncic again threatened for Sliema when he was first on to a Muscat cross but his header ended just over.

On 69 minutes Woods was close to grab his second of the match when, again, he was released by Pernis but his shot lacked power and precision.

In the 75th minute, the woodwork denied Sliema from doubling their advantage when Muscat exchanged the ball well with Pernis before unleashing a powerful drive that again hit the bar. Nicholas Micallef took the rebound and picked Pernis in the area with the latter seeing his header finishing just over.

Sliema then opted for 'prudence mode'. St Patrick failed to create any danger to Camilleri's goal as the champions secured the points they needed to move back to the top of the Premier League standings.

St Patrick: F. Azzopardi-6, M. Pullicino-5, R. Cassar-5, M. Fleri Soler-5, C. Failla-4, G. Failla-6, T. Caruana-6, B. Fenech-6, S. Costa Brasilino-5, S. Zerafa-6, C. Dozie-5 ('69 M. Tanti).

Sliema: M. Camilleri-6, A. Muscat-8, D. Debono-6, N. Turner-6, D. Doncic-6, A. Mifsud-5, I. Woods-8 ('82 A. Scerri), N. Micallef-6, O. Anonam-7, L. Pernis-6, B. Said-6.

Referee: Kevin Azzopardi.

Scorer: Woods 44.

Yellow Cards: G. Failla, Fenech, Zerafa, Anonam.

Player of the match: Ivan Woods (Sliema Wanderers).