Stripes, Greens share the spoils in a tight contest
by Ayrton Galea - 5th November 2016
Birkirkara FC ended their first-round commitments of the BOV Premier League with a 1-1 draw against Floriana FC in a tight match as Nicholas Chiesa's goal on the hour mark cancelled Vito Plut's first-half goal.
In a tale of two halves, the Stripes had a strong start in the match where they surged ahead and contained their opponents. However, Floriana rose their challenge in the second half and they grabbed a deserved point from this match.
By this result, the Stripes failed to profit on Balzan's draw for the second week as they finished the first round four points behind the leaders. The Stripes has now joined Hibernians in the second place and moved two points over Valletta but both the Paolites and the Citizens have a game in hands.
Coach Drazen Besek named the same line-up like last week with the exception of Matteo Desira Buttigieg who replaced Edward Herrera. Mislav Andelkovic is still nursing a muscle injury while Predrag Jovic was once again named on the substitutes' bench.
However the Croatian Coach did a tactical change as he fielded a 4-1-2-3 formation as Temile and Dimitrov started at the either side of Plut. Muscat was the defensive shield in-front of the defence supporting midfielders Sciberras and Scicluna while there were no changes at the rear-guard.
The First Half
It was Floriana who threatened first for the goal in the opening minutes. A curling free-kick by Steve Pisani found Mario Fontanella unmarked but the Greens striker hit high from an ideal position inside the box.
The Stripes surged ahead in their first scoring chance on the seventieth minute. Technical player Srdjan Dimitrov delivered an excellent corner kick that saw Plut hitting a first-time effort which was deflected and into the net past goalkeeper Justin Haber.
Floriana quickly made a reaction two minutes later. Nicholas Chiesa did well to dribble past his marker and struck a powerful shot that forced Kopric to dive full stretch and turn his effort into a corner kick. Fontanella then had a header saved by Kopric from a free-kick from the left mid-way the first-half.
The Greens continued to pile-up the pressure and they almost made them level just before the half-hour mark thanks to Ryan Camenzuli's screamer from distance which left Kopric stranded but ended just over the bar.
Birkirkara replied with a weak curling shot by Dimitrov on the thirty-third minute while they went close two minutes later when Plut did great work and put Temile through on goal but the Nigerian forward saw his shot blocked by Haber.
The Stripes almost doubled the score four minutes from half-time when Cain Attard served Temile on the right wing and the Nigerian's cross was flicked by Plut but his effort ended just over the bar as the first-half ended with a narrow lead for the Stripes.
The Second Half
Giovanni Tedesco, who was facing Birkirkara FC for the first time since both parties moved to opposite direction, brought on Ignacio Varela for the second half off Andre Scicluna.
The Greens started strongly as they had a shot by Fontanella blocked by Kopric while the Birkirkara goalkeeper blocked another from outside the box. Camenzuli then had a powerful volley deflected into another corner after just three minutes inside the second half.
Floriana should have done much better when Fontanella beat the offside trap eleven minutes inside the second half and squared the ball to Varela who with only Kopric to beat found the latter alert and produced a pin-point save while the rebound of Jurgen Pisani hit the foot of the post and was deflected into a corner.
However, there was nothing that could stop Floriana in their next attack on the hour mark. Technical player Steve Pisani, one of the best players for the Greens on the day, sent a measured cross to Nicholas Chiesa on the second post that beat Kopric with a fine header for a deserved equaliser.
The Stripes, who had to suffer for most of the second half, almost regained their lead in their first scoring chance thirty minutes inside the second half. Cain Attard dashed forward and sent a cross to Nikola Vukanac who hit a firm header but goalkeeper Haber produced a fine save.
Four minutes from time, substitute Shaun Bajada sent a fine corner kick that saw substitute Guillaumier rising high but his powerful header ended wide with a whisker as the score remained unchanged with both teams taking a point each in a tight contest.
BIRKIRKARA: Miroslav Kopric, Cain Attard, Christian Bubalovic, Nikola Vukanac, Joseph Zerafa, Gareth Sciberras, Rowen Muscat (84' Matthew Guillaumier), Ryan Scicluna (65' James Brincat), Srdjan Dimitrov (58' Shaun Bajada), Frank Temile, Vito Plut.
FLORIANA: Justin Haber, Andre Scicluna (46' Ignacio Varela), Enrico Pepe, Enzo Ruiz, Steve Pisani, Maurizio Vella (51' Brooke Farrugia), Jurgen Pisani, Alex Cini, Nicholas Chiesa, Mario Fontanella, Ryan Camenzuli.
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Assistant Referees:Luke Portelli, Sammy Attard.
Fourth Official: Mario Apap.
Yellow Cards: 55' Mario Fontanella, 89' Enrico Pepe (Floriana).
Scorers: 17' Vito Plut (Birkirkara), 60' Nicholas Chiesa (Floriana).
BOV Player of the Match: Ryan Camenzuli (Floriana).
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