Superb comeback by the 'Stripes'

by Matthaeus Grasso - 20th March 2010

In a thrilling encounter, Birkirkara surprisingly dropped two precious points in the fight for the league title, as they were held to an astonishing 3-3 scoreline by a highly-motivated Tarxien R. side.

Despite this draw, our team is still one point ahead of arch rivals and title favourites Valletta.

From the very first whistle, the 'Stripes' went all-out in search of goals, and in fact, after just two minutes, a marvelous volley-kick by Paul Fenech, slammed against the crossbar.

However, against the run of play, Denni served Calabretta in the box, and the latter calmly slotted the ball past Jorge Mora, to put the 'Rainbows' ahead.

The celebrations on the other side of the pitch didn't last longer than two minutes, as Carlo Mamo found Shaun Bajada in the box, who managed to head the ball into the net to level matters for our side.

Just before the half hour mark, the Birkirkara defense was caught napping, as Denni served Calabretta, with the latter shooting the ball towards the goal. Mora managed to deflect the shot with his foot, but unluckily, the ball still went in.

Following yet another highly controversial decision by the referee, Denni was freed just in front of our penalty area, however due to lack of concentration, Tarxien's foreigner chipped the ball too high, and as a result Birkirkara managed to get away from conceding again.

With the 'Yellows' still pressing for the vital equalizer, the match official signaled the end of a fast-paced first half.

Yet again, the 'Stripes' came out determined to turn the match around, and had a good chance to do so through Karl Pulo, but It wasn't to be that time.

In another isolated Tarxien attack, our opponents were awarded a freekick from the left. With the shot-cross being drifted in our penalty box, in came Ribeiro, who headed the ball into the Birkirkara net, to make it an unbelievable 3-1 scoreline.

With the Birkirkara supporters still shell-shocked, and the Birkirkara Ultras encouraging the players to keep on fighting, our team was awarded a freekick from a dangerous area from the left. Up stepped Shaun Bajada who managed to beat an in-form 'Rainbows' goalie in his second post. Birkirkara were back in with a shout.

The equalizing goal was on the cards, as Birkirkara went close through yet another splendid Paul Fenech shot, and a superb header by Karl Pulo, but the Tarxien goalkeeper was alert in both occasions, to deny the 'Stripes' from scoring.

Five minutes from the end, heart break for the Tarxien and Valletta supporters occurred, when yet another Shaun Bajada freekick swung in the box, with the ball being intelligently flicked on by substitute Alan Tabone, who found captain Michael Galea, with the latter putting the ball in the net with his head.

With the Birkirkara Ultras and supporters still in the seventh heaven, Sylvano Comvalius managed to get rid of his marker before unleashing a deadly shot which rattled the crossbar. The 'Stripes' were just a few centimeters away from clinching all three points in the dying seconds of the game, after being 3-1 down.

All is now set-up for the highly anticipated Birkirkara Vs. Valletta showdown, which will take place today week. So make sure to do your utmost effort to be present for this crucial BOV Premier League fixture, in order to give our clan the full support that it deserves.

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