The Stripes cross swords with The Spartans
by Ayrton Galea - 3rd March 2012
Birkirkara will be involved in the last match of the second round when on Sunday afternoon they face Hamrun Spartans.
In an entertaining match played on the 22 January, Birkirkara came back from two goals down and they put everything forward with the aim to find the winning goal. However against the run of play, Hamrun scored the third and winning goal and eliminated Birkirkara from the U*BET FA Trophy at an early 4th round stage.
After this match, Birkirkara played four matches. They won two and lost the other two. After they were defeated by Floriana with a 1-0 score, ‘The Stripes' bounced back with a solid performance and managed to beat Balzan Youths with a 4-0 score. Following a disappointing 4-1 loss against Valletta, Birkirkara then secured a Championship Pool place for the 13th consecutive season thanks to a comfortable 3-1 win over Tarxien Rainbows.
On the other hand, Hamrun won only the last match from the last four. Thanks to this win they brought to an end a six match streak without a win as their last win was registered on 2 December when they defeated Tarxien Rainbows with a 3-1 score. After suffering defeats to Hibernians and Mqabba respectively, they earned a deserved point against Sliema Wanderers. In the last match, they came from behind twice to register a comfortable 6-2 win over Marsaxlokk.
Both teams will be all out for these three precious points before the beginning of the Championship and Relegation Pool respectively, where the points will be halved and all the gaps will be reduced.
So far, these two teams met twice this season. In the 1st round of the Premier League ‘The Stripes' emerged as winners with a comfortable score. Then, as said earlier, in the 4th round of the U*BET FA Trophy Hamrun eliminated Birkirkara with a 3-2 score in an entertaining match.
Mr. Paul Zammit will have Rodrigo Pereira unavailable for his selection as the Brazilian defender is suspended after collecting the fourth yellow card in the last. On a more positive note, the Under 21 International midfielder Rowen Muscat should be available for selection.
The match will be played at the National Stadium and it is scheduled to kick off at 14:00. Transport from Valley Road is available and it will leave at 13:00. The MFA has announced that the Birkirkara supporters will be seated in the West Side A (Enclosure side) with the Floriana supporters. The Hamrun supporters will be seated in the Millenium D Side.
Come on the Stripes!
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