Battling Hotspurs floored by late goal

Pietà Hotspurs 0
Birkirkara 1

These days, it is the match officials rather than the players who are making it a habit of stealing the limelight.

The match between Birkirkara and Pietà Hotspurs, postponed from last Saturday due to a waterlogged pitch at the National Stadium, appeared heading for a goalless draw, a scoreline which would have been a fair reflection of a clash embarrassingly short on goalscoring chances, before the Stripes struck 13 minutes from time.

There was a goalmouth melee, the Pietà defenders looked to back off, presuming that referee Adrian Casha would stop play for what they claimed to be a handling infringement by George Mallia, Saviour Darmanin managed to repel the first shot at goal but Matthew Calascione was on hand to poke the ball home.

That was that and Birkirkara emerged from a potentially tricky encounter with three points to their credit while Pietà were left to rue the assistant referee's 'missed call'.

That is not to say that Birkirkara deserved to lose because they had been the more enterprising side, especially in the first half, but Pietà's commitment and significant improvement in the second period merited something from this match.

A request by the four clubs involved in yesterday's two Premier League fixtures, to shift their games from the Centenary Stadium to the National Stadium, was rejected by the Malta FA. Sources close to the association said that the clubs' request was received only hours before the first kick-off and therefore could not be considered.

The absence of William Camenzuli, due to suspension, prompted Stephen Azzopardi, the Birkirkara coach, to position Matthew Calascione on the right of midfield. Ray 'Zazu' Farrugia, the Pietà Hotspurs coach, had Jamie Pace partnering Ivan Woods in attack as Malcolm Licari was ruled out by injury.

Digger Okonkwo was the first player to enter the referee's book for a late challenge on Michael Galea. The ensuing free-kick, taken by Stripes' skipper Chucks Nwoko, whistled past the post.

Birkirkara's flexible 3-5-2 formation appeared to enjoy an edge in midfield in those initial exchanges, a powerful shot by Michael Galea going wide of the far post.

At the other end, a central strike by Woods was easily parried by goalkeeper Justin Haber. Woods then turned provider as his through-pass was elegantly retrieved by Daniel Cummings but the Birkirkara keeper charged out of goal to advert the danger.

Birkirkara came close to breaking the stalemate on the half-hour mark but Galea's header from close range hit the base of the post after a Jaroslav Marx corner.

Referee Casha, so much in the headlines in the aftermath of that infamous Valletta-Floriana derby, was kept busy in the first half as he dished out no fewer than four yellow cards, three of which were shown to Pietà players.

As a tepid first half was drawing to a close, Michael Galea fashioned a glancing header from a Calascione cross that sailed just wide.

For all their superior possession, Birkirkara were finding it hard to break down the resolute Pietà defence. Tactically, the Hotspurs were well-organised but they lacked flair in midfield which might justify their knack to direct speculative long passes aimed at Pace or Woods at the expense of a short-passing game.

Three minutes from the start of the second half had elapsed Pietà goalkeeper Darmanin made his first significant contribution in the game, palming away a menacing Lino Galea cross-shot.

Moments later, a rare mistake by the Pietà defence enabled Michael Galea a clear pot at goal but his effort bounced wide. Ten minutes into the second half, Pietà had a powerful Pace shot well blocked by Haber. Kevin Mamo then rescued Pietà from a potentially harmful situation when tracking back to intercept the goalbound Calascione after 63 minutes.

The constant probing of Gareth Sciberras and Cummings brought about a significant improvement in Pietà's play after the change of ends.

Fifteen minutes from time, Cummings raced on to a Sciberras pass but was dispossessed by two Birkirkara defenders before he could cause further damage.

Just when it seemed that the Hotspurs were starting to pose some problems of their own, Birkirkara took the lead. As the Pietà defenders stood off, claiming that Mallia had controlled the ball with his hand, the Birkirkara midfielder persevered but his shot was saved by Darmanin. The loose ball, however, rolled into the path of Calascione who scored with an easy tap-in.

Five minutes from time, Jurilj lifted the ball up for Pace from a free-kick, the latter again unleashed a rising drive but Haber was equal to the task.

Pietà's hopes of salvaging something from this game suffered another setback one minute from time when Okonkwo was expelled for a second bookable offence, after he appeared to crash into Dronca as he made a late attempt to head the ball.

Pietà: S. Darmanin, M. Dilello, M. Jurilj (L. Lombardi), D. Okonkwo, G. Sciberras, I. Woods, D. Cummings, K. Mamo, S. Pace, A. Debono, J. Pace.

Birkirkara: J. Haber, L. Galea, M. Calascione, J. Marx, M. Galea (A. Tabone), C. Nwoko, L. Dronca, K. Scicluna, R. Briffa (M.A. Bonnici), S. Eboh, G. Mallia.

Referee: Adrian Casha.

Scorer: Calascione 77th.

Yellow Cards: Okonkwo, Pace, Jurilj; Eboh, Marx, Dronca.

Red Card: Okonkwo 89th.

Player Of The Match: Lucian Dronca (Birkirkara).