Stripes beat St. Andrew's to make them five in a row
by Ayrton Galea - 10th April 2016
Birkirkara FC registered their fifth consecutive victory and consolidated their fourth place by staying six points over Floriana FC in the BOV Premier League, when they defeated St. Andrew's FC with a 3-1 score in a match dictated by the Stripes for long stretches.
It was a deserved victory for the Stripes who were seeking to reduce the gap with leaders Valletta to six points while keep on the pressure on Balzan and Hibernians. They succeeded in their task thanks to a goal each by Kurt Zammit, Christian Bubalovic and Vito Plut to extend their good form.
The Stripes dictated matters for most of the first-half and they surged ahead to Kurt Zammit who scored his first-ever goal in the BOV Premier League. The lead was doubled by Christian Bubalovic, who netted his first goal with our Club, early in the second-half before St. Andrew's got back in the match in the last twelve minutes. However, Vito Plut sealed the issue with the third and final goal.
By this victory, Birkirkara consolidated their fourth position and ensured a six-point advantage over Floriana. They narrowed the gap with leaders Valletta to six points before going head-to-head in next week's big-match. On the other hand, Hibernians remained three points above the Stripes while Balzan are just one point above.
Head Coach Mr. Drazen Besek was forced to make two from his three changes for this match. Ryan Scicluna was suspended while Matija Smrekar was ruled-out injured. Edward Herrera and Nikola Vukanac both remained ruled-out injured.
Kurt Zammit earned a first-eleven selection for the first time this season while Vito Plut also returned with the starting line-up. Edison Bilbao regained a first-eleven call after missing the last match. Ryan Camenzuli who missed the last game with a hamstring injury was only fit to start on the substitutes' bench.
Besek fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation and he kept faith in his four-line defence as Bubalovic and Mazzetti formed the centre-backs with Attard and Zerafa on the sides. Andelkovic and Sciberras also retained their place in-front of the defence. Bilbao was drafted in a familiar offensive position with Temile and Zammit patrolling the wings supporting striker Plut.
The First Half
The Stripes made their intentions clear right from the start. They took control from the initial minutes and threatened for an early opening goal after five minutes. Edison Bilbao raced forward unchallenged before having his shot from outside the box ending over.
Birkirkara produced another good opportunity moments later. Frank Temile did fine footwork before speeding past his marker to get inside the box and delivered a low cross in the path of Plut but the cross was parried by alert goalkeeper Jake Galea.
Birkirkara went close with a great scoring chance mid-way the first half. Gareth Sciberras delivered an excellent through-ball in the direction of Temile who sent a dangerous ball to Plut and the latter's first-time effort was blocked by Galea.
This was the prelude of the opening goal as just two later, on the twenty-seventieth minute, the Stripes surged ahead. Edison Bilbao's corner kick was short cleared and Kurt Zammit took possession and hit a powerful strike which was deflected by Nkene and into the net for the opening goal.
The Stripes remained superior and they threatened to double their lead on the thirty-third minute. Frank Temile showed great technique to dribble past his marker and hit a rasping shot which ended over the bar. Four minutes later, Attard had a shot ending over.
St. Andrew's produced their first scoring opportunity on the thirty-ninth minute. Jonathan Perez Cuestra received possession on the right before he advanced and tried his luck from outside the box but his effort ended over.
However, it was the Stripes who could have added their second just before the break. Sciberras sent a vertical ball towards Plut who produced an eye-catching skill by lobbing the ball over the defender but his close-range effort was blocked by Galea as the score remained unchanged till the end of the first half.
The Second Half
The Stripes registered the perfect opening to the second half as they doubled their lead after just four minutes. Edison Bilbao won possession and served Christian Bubalovic who drifted inside the box before hitting a powerful low shot which goalkeeper Jake Galea could only touch as the ball rolled into the net.
Birkirkara continued to enjoy control of the match. Sciberras and Temile combined well past the hour mark before the latter sent an accurate pass to Plut who controlled the ball but his powerful shot ended over.
On the other side of the pitch, St. Andrew's were struggling to penetrate with long balls on their target player Salomon Wisdom who tried to give the much-needed punch in their offensive department. In a rare scoring chance for St. Andrew's, on the sixty-eighth minute, Jonatan Perez had a direct free-kick ending over.
St. Andrew's increased their pressure and they got back in the match thirteen minutes from time. Wisdom, undoubtedly the most dangerous player for Mr. Jose Borg's side, played a delightful one-two with Victor Oseghale before controlling the ball and hit hard past Misoslav Kopric.
The goal only served as a wake-up call for the Stripes, who had slowed their tempo in the last twenty minutes, as they regained a two-goal lead just four minutes later. Mazzetti hit a wonderful curling free-kick that hit the up-right and the ball travelled across the goal-line before Plut pocked the ball home.
Midfielder Mislav Andelkovic was named the BOV Player of the Match.
BIRKIRKARA: Miroslav Kopric, Cain Attard, Christian Bubalovic, Mauricio Mazzetti, Joseph Zerafa, Gareth Sciberras (90' Matthew Guillaumier), Mislav Andelkovic, Frank Temile, Kurt Zammit (73' Edmond Agius), Vito Plut (84' Ryan Darmanin).
ST. ANDREW'S Jake Galea, Enmy Manuel Pena' Beltre, Eloy Edu Nkene (83' Jacob Walker), Bong Won Che, Jonathan Perez Cuestra (90+1' Dale Camilleri), Victor Lucky Oseghale, Salomon Wisdom, Joseph Farrugia, Francis Chinatu Onwudinjo, Matteo Desira Buttigieg (62' Kyrian Nwoko), Michael Johnson.
Referee: Malcolm Spiteri.
Assistant Referees: Duncan Spiteri , Thomas Debono.
Fourth Official: Marco Borg.
Yellow Cards: Vito Plut (Birkirkara) Bong Won Che, Enmy Manuel Pena' Beltre, Eloy Edu Nkene (St. Andrew's)
Scorers: 27' Kurt Zammit, 49' Christian Bubalovic, 81' Vito Plut (Birkirkara), 77' Salomon Wisdom (St. Andrew's).
BOV Player of the Match: Mislav Andelkovic (Birkirkara).
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