Sta Lucia, Sirens fire blanks in hard-fought encounter

SANTA LUCIA  0

SIRENS             0

SANTA LUCIA

D. Ciappara, L. Fonseca, N. Pulis, L. McKay-5 (60 D. Xuereb), R. Bairam (70 M. Alba), M. Valpoort-5.5, B. Blie, D. Pacheco, J. Pisani, F. Farias, E. Serna-6 (82 J. Carbone).

SIRENS

A. Cassar-6, G. Camilleri-6, W. Da Silva-6, M. Muniz-6, R. Tachikawa-6.5, S. Cipriott, A. Cini-6, P. Bento-6 (89 I. Kolev), S. Arab-6 (57 K. Sano), G. Ventura-6, D. Jackson-6.

Referee: Glenn Tonna.

Yellow cards: Pulis, Muniz, Fonseca, Pacheco, Weder.

BOV Player of the match: Dylan Ciappara (Sta Lucia).

Sirens and Sta Lucia cancelled each other in a goalless draw at the Centenary Stadium.

It is may be still early in the season but both team knew that there were high stakes in the match as win for either side would have enabled them to move out of the relegation zone.

Sirens looked the more adventurous side as they created the better chances even though they played for more than an hour with a player less following the dismissal of Sean Cipriott.

But the St Paul’s Bay side could not find a way past Sta Lucia goalkeeper Dylan Ciappara and both teams had to settle for a point.

The first half produced few scoring chances as both teams were more concerned on not conceding rather than scoring a goal themselves.

The first chance of the match arrived after three minutes when Sirens were awarded a free-kick and Gabriel Fernandes’ shot was saved by Dylan Ciappara.

The Sta Lucia custodian against distinguished himself minutes later when he kept out Gary Camilleri’s shot.

Sirens’ best chance came on 23 minutes when Siraj Arab was denied by the onrushing Ciappara.

But the St Paul’s Bay side’s hopes were jolted on 28 minutes when Sean Cipriott was shown a straight red card after hitting an opponent.

With a man more on the pitch, Sta Lucia finally started to threaten and Meghon Valpoort came close but his inswinger finished just over.

After the break, Sirens kept pushing forward and on 58 minutes Bento broke through but fired wide with only Ciappara to beat.

Then it was Degran Jackson who stormed through the Sta Lucia defence but saw his shot whizz past the upright.

The Jamaican striker was at it again minutes later but was again dented by Ciappara who blocked his effort in two attempts as the stalemate prevailed.