Best round so far

by Ayrton Galea - 11th April 2012

Birkirkara have completed the first round of the Championship pool, and we are going to present you with a detailed roundup.

In the last two matches of the second round Birkirkara won with an identical 3-1 score thanks to convincing performances, and many started to believe that 'The Stripes' could perform a fine run in this run. However, probably no one believed that they will go through this round unbeaten.

Matches

Birkirkara played the first match of the third round on the 14 March when a fine performance enabled them to beat Floriana with a 3-1 score thanks to goals by Shola Shodiya, Nikola Vukanac and Moises Avila Perez.

Moises, was the hero for Birkirkara in the next match against Valletta which was played on the 17 March. Valletta took the lead midway in the second half. After Shola Shodiya was floored inside the box, it was the Spanish striker, who had come on as a substitute a few minutes before, to level matters for Birkirkara. This enabled Birkirkara to grab a point as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

If the late equaliser against Valletta was a surprise for some, they received a bigger surprise on the 24 March when thanks to a determined performance by all the players, ‘The Stripes' beat Hibernians with a solitary goal, thanks to another penalty which was converted by substitute Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza.

Birkirkara registered the second draw in three matches on the 31st March. They were held by Sliema Wanderers in a 1-1 draw with the former Sliema winger Jorge Santos Silva scoring the goal for Birkirkara . The draw favoured mostly, Birkirkara who kept their six point advantage over ‘The Blues'.

The third round was finished in style thanks to a splendid performance in the last match which was played on the 9 April. ‘The Stripes' humiliated Balzan Youths with a 5-0 score thanks to goals by Rodrigo Pereira, Ryan Scicluna, Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza, Shola Shodiya and Moises Avila Perez in a match that was dominated by Birkirkara right from the start.

Team Statistics

In this round which consisted of five matches, Birkirkara won three and drew twice. They scored 11 goals and conceded just three goals. This means that in this third round, Birkirkara were the second best attack, after Valletta who scored 15. Birkirkara had the best defence with three goals conceded, followed by Valletta who conceded five.

Out of the eleven goals scored, Birkirkara scored six goals in the first half and the other five goals in the second half. On the other hand, the three goals conceded were one in the first half and two in the second half.

The earliest goal was scored by Jorge Santos Silva against Sliema Wanderers in the 15th minute. The latest goal was scored by Moises Avila Perez against Floriana in the 90th minute.

The best win of the round and of the season was registered in the last match of the round against Balzan Youths with a very comfortable 5-0 score in a match which was played on the 9 April.

Penalties were ordered in favour of Bikirkara in four consecutive matches, that is against Valletta, Hibernians, Sliema and Balzan Youths. Birkirkara missed to score against Sliema, but converted to goals the other three times.

Throughout this round, Birkirkara hit the post twice, first by Jorge Santos Silva against Floriana and then by Michael Camilleri against Sliema Wanderers.

Players Statistics

Mr. Paul Zammit made use of eighteen different players throughout this month. In all five matches he used the three substitutions available.

The top scorer for this round is Moises Avila Perez with three goals as he found the net against Floriana, Valletta and Balzan respectively. He is followed by the other two forwards namely Shola Shodiya and Jorge Santos Silva with two goals each.

Karl Magri made his Premier League debut when he was included as a substitute in the match against Balzan Youths on the 62nd minute, and he maintained a clean sheet.

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