Birkirkara in all out battle for second place
by Ayrton Galea - 29th April 2011
Tomorrow afternoon Birkirkara will be hoping that they will maintain alive their hope for the second place, when they face Marsaxlokk in a difficult match.
Thanks to a never give up attitude, last Monday, Birkirkara collected a very important point with a late equaliser by Rodolfo Kumbrevicius, who entered the fray late in the second half. Birkirkara held the new champions in a 1-1 draw.
On the other hand, Marsaxlokk are coming from a disappointing result. They were beaten with a score of 4-2 by Tarxien Rainbows, with the latter having a very comfortable 4-0 lead in the first half.
Matches against Marsaxlokk were never an easy task, and from Season 2002-2003 these two teams met no less than 31 times in the Premier League
Birkirkara won the majority of the matches as they registered twelve wins over Marsaxlokk, one more then the latter as they managed to beat Birkirkara eleven times. Eight matches ended in a draw. In total, Birkirkara scored 52 times, but Marsaxlokk managed to find the net against 'The Stripes' no less than 56, which means four times more than Birkirkara.
This season, Birkirkara and Marsaxlokk met three times in the Premier League. Marsaxlokk notched two victories out of three. In the first round Marsaxlokk humiliated 'The Stripes' with a 5-2 score, with Birkirkara having the worst defeat and performance till that day. In the second round, Marsaxlokk registered a double over Birkirkara when they won the match with a score of 2-0. However, in the third round Birkirkara found no difficulty to trounce Marsaxlokk with a score of 4-1.
Tomorrow's match should be a very intense one, as both teams will try to go for the three important points. Birkirkara are currently two points ahead of Marsaxlokk. This means that if Marsaxlokk manages beat Birkirkara again, 'The Stripes' will slide down to the 4th place, with no chance to reach the second place. If Birkirkara manage to beat Marsaxlokk, they will secure third place. If Birkirkara win, and Floriana fail to beat Valletta, the last match between these two will be a decisive one for the second place. A draw between Marsaxlokk and Birkirkara will complicate proceedings further, and a decider for the third place would be a possibility.
For this decisive match, Mr. Paul Zammit will not have available for selection the two midfielders Paul Fenech and Shaun Bajada. Paul Fenech is suspended while Shaun Bajada is still ruled out injured. Angus Buhagiar picked his fourth yellow card last Monday against Valletta and therefore he is also suspended.
The match will be played at the National Stadium and it will start at 15:00. Transport from Valley Road will leave at 14:00.
Come on the Stripes!
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