No joy for the 'Wanderers' this time

by Matthaeus Grasso - 27th February 2010

In front of a considerable amount of Birkirkara supposters, most of whom were marking their return to the Ta'Qali National Stadium after a considerable amount of time, the boys from Valley Road managed to beat Sliema Wanderers with a single goal margin in a 2-1 victory.

It was the 'Blues' who had the first scoring opportunity, as ex-Msida playmaker, Pedrinho, took control of the ball after being served by Julio Alcorse, with the former having his shot well parried-away by Jorge Mora. Sliema W. were denied of a certain goal.

On thirty-minutes, with our side still dictating play, Shaun Bajada served Sylvano Comvalius, who marked his return to full fitness with a tremendous shot from just outside the edge of the box, which Simon Agius could do nothing about.

Both teams went in for the half-time break with the score board reading 1-0.

Soon after the restart, Sliema W., had another wasted one-on-one opportunity, with Alcorse failing to hit the ball well when faced by the Spanish goalkeeper.

Half an hour from the end of the match, Mora failed to control well an opposing free-kick, but in came the brave Branko Nisevic who managed to clear the ball at the eleventh hour before any of the Sliema forwards could put the ball in the empty net.

With the Birkirkara supporters chanting Mora's name in support to their trustworthy last line of defense, who seemed to be angry with himself due to the error he had just committed, the 'Stripes' continued to press for that killer goal.

Fifteen minutes later, a crucial second goal arrived, as Paul Fenech unleashed a tremendous strike which was parried away by Agius, but in came the in-form Malta international Trevor Cilia, who had the easy task of slotting the ball home.

With the Birkirkara supporters in delirium, the commentator at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, instead of crediting Cilia for his goal, said that Michael Galea was the man who had touched the ball last before it went into the net.

Shaun Bajada had a glorious opportunity to put the game beyond any doubt, but kept possession of the ball for too long before having his attempt smothered onto the crossbar by Agius.

Sliema W. clawed one back three minutes from the end, when Woods took control of the ball and put the ball in Mora's net with a fine shot.

Man of the match Trevor Cilia, ran a couple of yards before blasting the ball towards the opposing goal, but somehow, Simon Agius managed to turn the ball behind into a corner.

With a controversial referee adding five minutes of stoppage time, following a staggering eight bookings during the match, the Birkirkara supporters were on the edge of their seats desperately waiting for the triple whistle, which finally arrived on the 96th minute of play.

With this positive result, Birkirkara are now leading the BOV Premier League table on twenty-three points, with Valletta lurking just behind us on twenty points and with a game in hand.

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