Stripes defeat Rainbows in a hard-fought match
by Ayrton Galea - 6th May 2013
Birkirkara will have to wait till Saturday in order to have their chance to be crowned the BOV Premier League Champions of Malta, when despite beating Tarxien with a solitary goal by Shodiya eleven minutes from time, Hibernians defeated Valletta by the odd goal in three to force a decider for the winner of the league.
Birkirkara's afternoon turned to be a frustrating one as the Stripes could not find the opening goal despite dominating for long stretches. However, when pressure began to pile-up and the Birkirkara supporters started to become frustrated, Nigerian forward Shola Shodiya came to the rescue eleven minutes from time to erupt the Birkirkara supporters and technical staff into joy.
Once again, Mr. Paul Zammit began the match with a 3-5-2 formation as he made no changes from his first-eleven selection which defeated Valletta. Zach Muscat was back for the Stripes after serving a one-match ban.
Keeping in mind the importance of the match, the Birkirkara supporters packed their enclosure stand as they turned up for this match in numbers, in order to give their utmost support to what could be Birkirkara last league's match for this season.
One should note the wonderful choreography prepared the Birkirkara Ultras who coloured their enclosure side with yellow and red cards in the upper section of their side while using yellow and red plastic in the lower section, besides the usual big flags, streamers and the rest of the material which adds to the atmosphere. Definitely a deserved congratulations for the hard-working Birkirkara faithful for this memorable choreography.
Morale sky-high after beating Valletta last week to dash the City's title hopes, Birkirkara came out as the most aggressive for this match, although Tarxien were well-organised especially at the back and made the Stripes' life into an up struggle one.
Having come out on fire for this match, as they knew that an early goal would be essential in their target of grabbing the price-less three points, the Stripes did not take long to settle down as they began to threaten to surge ahead.
The Stripes were playing flowing football and they were creating opportunity after opportunity, however they could not find the net. Despite creating several open chances, the first-half ended goal-less with forty five minutes remaining for Mr. Zammit's lads to make things right.
Just seventeen minutes in the second half, while the Stripes were still searching for the opener, Tarxien ended playing with ten-men after Branislav Timotic was sent-off for double booking. A send-off which boosted the Stripes' confidence once again.
However, when Birkirkara were going through a déjà-vu of the match against Mosta, Shodiya came out with what could be described as the most important goal of the league as the Stripes went ahead and then found no difficulty to maintain their lead and pick-up their precious three points.
The First Half
Backed by their numerous colourful supporters, the Stripes came out aggressive for this match as they clearly showed their intentions for an early goal.
Birkirkara created their first scoring opportunity inside the opening minutes of the match when following a perfect pass in the direction of Joseph Zerafa, the latter saw his shot scratching past the post.
Just ten minutes into the match and the Stripes went near once again, as this time they lost a fine opportunity. Rowen Muscat collected the ball inside the box following a diagonal pass with his effort ending over from an ideal position.
Birkirkara continued on the attack. On the 25th minute, Gareth Sciberras and Joseph Zerafa combined well with Zerafa sending a perfect pass in direction of Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza but the prolific striker saw his attempt end wide.
Mifsud Triganza was in action once again on the half-hour mark when the striker ran through on the right, hit a low drive that rolled wide off the far post.
Having showing signs of resilience, the Rainbows began to settle down as the Stripes' seemed to lose their opening rhythm. On the 40 minutes, Leandro was in an ideal position but Rodrigo Pereira performed a superb tackle to repel his effort.
Just before half-time, Birkirkara almost surged ahead. Tarxien's goalkeeper failed to catch the ball off a cross from the left, but Shodiya's cute lob ended over the bar.
The first half ended with the Stripes having created several scoring opportunities but none of them materialised.
The Second Half
The Stripes had forty-five minutes left to save their skin as they knew that they had to score sooner rather than later in order to be able to pick up the three points. But the hurdle was not easy to overcome, as the Rainbows were more concentrated to keep the Stripes' forward at bay, than to create their scoring opportunities.
With Birkirkara penetrating most thanks to the fast over-laps by left-back Joseph Zerafa in the first half, Tarxien's Head Coach, Mr. Clive Mizzi included Justin Grioli instead of Mark Tanti.
Birkirkara, who came out for the rest of the match with the same hunger for goal tried their utmost efforts in the opening minutes, but the Rainbows' defensive approach for this match certainly effected the rhythm of the match, as despite the Stripes were dominating the territory, they did not worry much goalkeeper Vella.
However, on the hour mark, Birkirkara should have surged ahead. A precise through ball in direction of Shola Shodiya who beat the offside trap saw the Nigerian's effort hitting the foot of goalkeeper Vella and off the rebound, Mifsud Triganza saw his shot vitally blocked by Steven Bonnici to deny the Stripes the opening goal.
Two minutes later, and Birkirkara received a major boost as Tarxien ended playing with ten men. Branislav Timotic were sent-off by the referee for double booking for a simulation inside the box following a challenge by Rodrigo Pereira.
The sending-off of Timotic did not affect much the rhythm of the match, as Birkirkara were still not testing Vella enough.
With Joseph Zerafa already cautioned and the Birkirkara players getting more nervous, Mr. Zammit replaced the left-back with Ryan Camenzuli on the 68 minutes in order to rest his mind not to lose a player for the remaining minutes.
With few more than fifteen minutes left, the Stripes were frustrated as they were still goal-less. The Birkirkara supporters began to lose hope, but not for too long as Jhonnattann revived faith in the Stripes' with his inclusion on the 74th minute, when he replaced Rodrigo.
For all their scoring opportunities wasted, Birkirkara almost paid the sourest price as in a rare attack by the Rainbows, Leandro performed a great run cutting down inside the box but Haber pushed away his attempt into a corner.
However, on the 79 minutes, Birkirkara were awarded for their efforts throughout the whole match as they took the deserved lead.
Edward Herrera provided an excellent cross to be met by Mifsud Triganza's effort which was blocked by a defender but off the rebound Shola Shodiya's easily placed the ball at the back of the net, to the joy of the Birkirkara.
In order to close all gaps possible to defend this narrow lead, Zach Muscat replaced Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza on the 81st minute.
In the dying moments, Jhonnattann made a fine run before cutting down inside the box from the left but his diagonal shot was turned into a corner by Vella.
The referee's final whistle prompted scenes of joy among the relieved Birkirkara players and supporters as this hard-earned win kept their title dream very much alive.
BIRKIRKARA: Justin Haber, Rodrigo Pereira (74' Jhonnattann Benites), Nikola Vukanac, Alejandro Mendoza, Joseph Zerafa (68 'Ryan Camenzuli), Paul Fenech, Gareth Sciberras, Rowen Muscat, Edward Herrera, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza (81' Zach Muscat), Shola Shodiya.
TARXIEN: Nicholas Vella, Carlo Mamo, Manuel Caruana, Andrezinho, Leandro, Ryan Sammut (58' Steve Sadowski), Mark Tanti (45' Justin Grioli), Daniel Mariano Bueno, Branislav Timotic, Orosco Anonam (85' David Fenech), Steven Bonnici.
Yellow Cards: Joseph Zerafa (Birkirkara), Branislav Timotic, Steve Sadowski (Tarxien Rainbows)
Red Cards: Branislav Timotic (Tarxien Rainbows)
Scorers: 79' Shola Shodiya (Birkirkara)
Man of the match: Shola Shodiya (Birkirkara)
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