Stripes beat Floriana to finish third
by Ayrton Galea - 6th May 2017
Birkirkara FC ended their BOV Premier League campaign on a satisfactory note, when they defeated Floriana FC with a 2-1 score, to finish in the third place.
Birkirkara completed what seemed to be an impossible task of finishing in the third place in the league, when they produced an impressive run of eleven matches unbeaten to come from behind and leapfrog Valletta in the final fixture.
The Stripes surged ahead seven minutes from half-time thanks to Miguel Alba and Vito Plut added the second goal fourteen minutes from time. Enrico Pepe pulled one back four minutes later, but the Stripes held strong for the victory, with the Greens missing a penalty in the stoppage time.
Coach Nikola Jaros welcomed back Miguel Alba, Srdjan Dimitrov, Nikola Vukanac and Gonzalo Malan. Alba and Dimitrov returned from a one-match ban while Vukanac and Malan recovered from an injury. They replaced Matthew Guillaumier, Edmond Agius, Gary Muir an Predrag Jovic.
The First Half
In a drab start to the match, Birkirkara and Floriana cancelled out each other in the opening half-hour. In fact, there were no shots on goal from either side. Birkirkara were trying to dictate their play on their technical duo of Alba and Dimitrov, while the Greens had Samb as their point of reference.
Birkirkara created their first scoring opportunity after thirty-two minutes. Alba's cross found Dimitrov on the second post, with the technical player controlled the ball before having his shot on target saved by goalkeeper Justin Haber.
Floriana were close to take the lead on the thirty-fourth minute, when Chiesa's shot was cleared off the goal-line by Christian Bubalovic, and from the same action, Camenzuli's effort hit the crossbar.
The Stripes surged ahead on the thirty-seventh minute. Plut made fine footwork on the right flank before supplying an excellent low-cross inside the box and Alba drilled the ball past goalkeeper Haber from close-range.
Just before half-time, Floriana produced a good scoring opportunity when Ryan Camenzuli drifted past two markers and hit a fierce shot, but goalkeeper Henry Bonello made a fine save to turn the ball into a corner kick.
The Second Half
Floriana created a dangerous scoring opportunity at the start of the second half. Camenzuli rose high to meet a cross from the right, but his header was denied with a brilliant save by Bonello, who turned the ball into a corner kick.
Jaros was forced to alternate his back-four again. Substitute Steven Bonnici, who had replaced the injured Christian Bubalovic in the first half, also suffered an injury. Guillaumier replaced Bonnici, with Zerafa shifting to centre-back while Herrera and Scicluna patrolled the side-backs.
Birkirkara doubled the lead on the seventy-sixth minute. Alba produced a devastating run down the left flank, that saw him outrun three markers before sending an inch-perfect cross inside the box and Plut blasted home from close-range.
Floriana got back in contention four minutes later. A free-kick from the left failed to be cleared by the Birkirkara defenders, and Enrico Pepe hit a low shot past goalkeeper Bonello.
The Greens could have saved a point from the match, when two minutes into stoppage time, referee Fyodor Zammit ordered a penalty when Samb went down following a challenge by Joseph Zerafa. However, from the spot, Enzo Ruit hit high.
Miguel Alba was voted the BOV Player of the Match.
BIRKIRKARA: Henry Bonello, Edward Herrera, Christian Bubalovic (37' Steven Bonnici) (50' Matthew Guillaumier), Mislav Andelkovic, Srdjan Dimitrov (81' Edmond Agius), Vito Plut, Nikola Vukanac, Joseph Zerafa, Miguel Alba, Ryan Scicluna.
FLORIANA: Justin Haber, Andre Scicluna, Antonio Monticelli (68' Clyde Borg), Enrico Pepe, Enzo Ruiz, Steve Pisani, Sebastian Nayar, Alex Cini (56' Maurizio Vella), Amadou Samb, Nicolas Chiesa, Ryan Camenzuli (90' Lomar Cutajar).
Referee: Fyodor Zammit.
Assistant Referees: Luke Portelli, William Debattista.
Additional Assistant Referees: Matthew Degabriele, Stefan Pace.
Fourth Official: Alan Camilleri.
Yellow Cards: 12' Christian Bubalovic, 22' Alex Cini, 61' Amadou Samb, 84' Steve Pisani, 87' Sebastian Nayar, 90+2' Joseph Zerafa.
Scorers: 38' Miguel Alba, 76' Vito Plut (Birkirkara), 80' Enrico Pepe (Floriana).
BOV Player of the Match: Miguel Alba (Birkirkara).
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