Three past Sliema!

by Matthaeus Grasso - 10th April 2010

On Friday evening, in front of a modest attendance at the Ta'Qali National Stadium, Birkirkara managed to achieve a vital 3-0 victory against an off-form Sliema Wanderers side.

With Birkirkara missing the services of Rowen Muscat due to sickness, and Alan Tabone due to suspension, ex-Malta international George Mallia was given the "go ahead" by Mr.Paul Zammit to be part of the initial eleven for the match against 'the blues'.

Just a few minutes after the kick-off, with our team pressing for the early lead, fear struck in our end of the encloseur, as a corner from the right created a big mix-up in our box, with Paul Fenech clearing the ball away from the goal line, which after taking a deflection luckily ended in Mora's possession.

Fear turned into absolute joy after fifteen minutes, as a Slyvano Comvalius corner-kick from the left found Birkirkara's tall and strong centre-back, Nikola Vukanac who headed the ball past Simon Agius, to break the deadlock.

Midfielder Trevor Cilia could have doubled the score soon after, but after a good run, his shot ended narrowly wide.

On the thirty minute mark, our side was awarded a freekick from a very dangerous area. Up stepped Sylvano Comvalius, whose wonderful shot was tipped over by Agius. Our side was yet again a whisker away from doubling the score.

A few minutes before the end of the first period, Alex Muscat had a good chance of making matters level, but his shot was parried-away by our brave goalkeeper, Jorge Mora.

'The Stripes' went very close to score the second goal in the stoppage time of the first half, a pass towards Sylvano Comvalius was affected, with the Dutch man trying a dangerous cross-shot towards Trevor Cilia, with the latter being just centimeters away from connecting into the empty net.

The match referee ordered the players for a well-deserved break, with the boys from Valley Road leading 1-0 in a highly-entertaining first half.

With the Birkirkara Ultras and supporters continuously cheering the players from the stands, after fifty minutes of play, Josef Mifsud of Sliema lost the ball to Trevor Cilia in the heart of his team's defence, with the Birkirkara player cannoning the ball towards goal, with Simon Agius deflecting the ball, before it bounced against our player again. This time, the Sliema goalkeeper had nothing to do, but to watch the ball bounce slowly past the goal line. 2-0.

Just a few moments before the hour mark, Birkirkara could have scored a third goal, but Michael Galea's deadly shot from within the penalty area rattled the crossbar.

The final deadly punch came soon after however, as Sliema W. failed to deal well with a shot by George Mallia, with the ball reaching the path of Trevor Cilia, whose low shot gave the Sliema custodian no chance. The second goal for Cilia, and the third one for Birkirkara

The Birkirkara players seemed to relax a bit after this goal, and Sliema Wanderers tried to take full advantage of this, as they were now constantly pressing to score one or more goals, and they almost managed to do so through Ian Azzopardi and twice through Julio Alcorse, but in the end, the consolation goal never arrived.

With this victory Birkirkara are now four points clear at the top, as arch rivals and second-placed Valletta managed to beat Tarxien R. with a 3-0 score on Saturday.

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