Late goal sink Stripes

by Ayrton Galea - 26th April 2015

A late goal by Hamza Barry downed Birkirkara, as in a balanced encounter Valletta emerged as winners with a 2-1 score, in the direct clash for the second place of the BOV Premier League.

In a tight encounter, Birkirkara were downed with a late goal eighth minutes from time, to have their eighteen-match unbeaten coming to an end. They also lost the second place to Valletta, as the latter once again clinched the second place, two points over the same Birkirkara.

Valletta enjoyed an edge in the first-half, after they surged ahead early in the match thanks to Steve Borg's goal. On the other hand, the Stripes came out better in the second forty-five minutes, and they were boosted by Scicluna's early equaliser, before the Citizens scored a late winner thanks to Barry.

Coach Paul Zammit made three changes from the 3-1 victory against Zebbug Rangers. Goalkeeper Justin Haber again was given the nod to defend the posts by replacing Hamzabegovic, while Joseph Zerafa and Mauricio Mazzetti, both back from suspension regained the first-eleven place at the expense of Matheus Bissi and Nassir Maachi.

The 4-2-3-1 fomartion featured Haber defending the posts with Mazzetti and Vukanac as central-backs, and Zerafa and Zach Muscat as side-backs. Fenech and Rowen Muscat began as holding midfielders, with Herrera and Camenzuli patrolling the wings. Scicluna was the advanced midfielder roaming behind the only striker, Rafael Ledesma.

The First Half

There was a balanced opening as both teams utilised the opening minutes to study their opponents. The early stages shaped-up as a tug of war for possession in the midfield.

The Stripes had their first scoring attempt after six minutes, when Ledesma's strike ended over. The Citizens surged ahead on the sixteenth minute, when Abdelkarim Nafti's in-swinging corner was misjudged by Haber and Steve Borg put the Citizens in the lead.

Birkirkara seemed stunned by this goal, enabling Valletta to take an edge in the match. The latter went close to double the lead ten minutes later, when Nafti showed great composure to collect a through-ball by Briffa, but his lob scratched past the far post.

Valletta went close once again on the thirty-third minute thanks to a fast breakaway. Nafti served Lateef in front of Haber, but Zerafa made a crucial tackle to deny the Valletta forward before he could pull the trigger.

Birkirkara reacted towards the end of the first half. Ten minutes from half-time, Rowen Muscat made some fine footwork before serving Ledesma, who drifted inside the box but his diagonal shot was saved by goalkeeper Vella in two attempts. Two minutes later, Zach Muscat had a fierce strike from inside the box ending wide.

One minute from half-time, the Stripes had harsh protests for a penalty. Luke Dimech tackled Ryan Camenzuli inside the box but Referee Adrian Azzopardi decided that it was a dangerous play from the Valletta defender, and awarded the Stripes with an indirect free-kick from inside the box, after booking Dimech.

From the resulting free-kick, Ledesma's attempt went wide and high, and the first-half ended with Valletta enjoying a narrow 1-0 lead.

The Second Half

For the second half, Birkirkara's Head Coach Paul Zammit tried to inject some inspiration in his forward line, and he introduced Ellinton Morais instead of Ryan Camenzuli.

Valletta came out brighter once again, and they had two scoring opportunities in quick succession. Shaun Bajada had a shot saved by Haber, and a few moments later Haber parried an in-swinging shot by Nafti.

The introduction of Morais made the difference, as the Stripes were more effective on the left channel. The speed of the Brazilian striker was creating a lot of problems for Borg and Dimech who could not match Morais' aggression.

Six minutes into the second half Vukanac header's from a corner kick by Ledesma went high, but in their next corner three minutes later, the Stripes equalised. It was an in-swinging corner that failed to be parried by goalkeeper Vella as the ball bounced on the ground and Scicluna was quick to fire home from close-range.

The Citizens recovered well as Shaun Bajada tested Haber with a long distance free-kick which was saved by the Birkirkara goalkeeper. Moments later Haber saved a fierce strike by Hamza Barry in two attempts.

The Birkirkara bench was once again protesting for the dismissal of Luke Dimech twenty minutes into the second half, when he elbowed Morais on the run, as he was getting past him. However, much to the frustration of the Stripes, the referee saw nothing wrong.

Paul Fenech had a powerful shot from distance ending wide on the sixty-ninth minute. Two minutes later, from a short-cleared corner, Dimech served Barry who had his up-rising shot ending over.

Valletta regained the lead nine minutes from time. Briffa chipped the ball in the path of substitute Cremona, only for the ball to be deflected by Zach Muscat, and ending in Barry's path, who all alone against Haber had an easy task to lob over the Birkirkara goalkeeper.

Birkirkara went close to making the score level deep into stoppage time, when substitute Kurt Zammit who had replaced Zach Muscat, saw his powerful strike cleared into safety by Dimech as Valletta held strong for the win.

BIRKIRKARA: Justin Haber, Zach Muscat (83' Kurt Zammit, Mauricio Mazzetti, Nikola Vukanac, Joseph Zerafa, Rowen Muscat, Ryan Scicluna (75' Matheus Bissi), Paul Fenech, Edward Herrera, Ryan Camenzuli (46' Ellinton Morais), Rafael Ledesma.

VALLETTA: Nicholas Vella, Jonathan Caruana, Steve Borg, Ryan Camilleri, Ryan Fenech, Hamza Barry, Roderick Briffa (92' Nicholas Pulis), Lateef Elford Alliyu (72' Llywelyn Cremona), Shaun Bajada (63' Ian Azzopardi), Abdelkarim Nafti, Luke Dimech.

Referee: Adrian Azzopardi.

Assistant Referees: Mitchell Scerri, Roberto Vella.

Additional Assistant Referees:

Fourth Official: Fyodor Zammit.

Yellow Cards: 60' Zach Muscat (Birkirkara), 45' Luke Dimech, 57' Abdelkarim Nafti, 66' Steve Borg (Valletta)

Scorers: 53' Ryan Scicluna (Birkirkara), 16' Steve Borg, 81' Hamza Barry (Valletta).

BOV Player of the Match: Hamza Barry (Valletta).

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