Hard-fought win for Birkirkara

Msida St Joseph 1
Kalenga 20
Birkirkara 2
Galea 47; Pulo 49

Birkirkara recovered from a poor start to battle past struggling Msida in a game of two halves yesterday.

The Stripes were well below their best in the opening 45 minutes during which they fell behind to Ndayi Kalenga's 20th-minute goal. Their reaction was sterile initially and an upset looked on the cards at half-time but the pattern changed after the break as Birkirkara clicked into gear and turned the match in their favour with two quick goals from Michael Galea and Karl Pulo.

The Stripes wisely administered their slender lead to cut the gap on leaders Valletta to one point with only one match to go before the end of the first phase.

Sylvano Comvalius was a notable absentee from the Stripes' starting formation as coach Paul Zammit deemed that the Dutch forward was not fit enough to start following a short trial with Russian club Spartak Nalchik. Shaun Bajada was back from suspension but only started on the bench.

Birkirkara looked short of creativity in the opening minutes as the hard-running Msida sought to hit their opponents on the break.

The Stripes' hesitancy was punished on 20 minutes when Kevin Mifsud won possession in midfield and quickly served Kalenga who raced through and beat Jorge Mora to put the underdogs ahead.

Nine minutes later, the Birkirkara fans shouted 'goal' when Nikola Vukanac's shot from outside the box was parried by Manuel Bartolo and from the rebound, Trevor Cilia fired home. However, the goal was annulled as Cilia was offside.

Zammit's team were struggling badly and despite their superior possession, they rarely threatened the well-organised Msida defence. In fact, Birkirkara only had one shot on target before the half-time whistle when Galea's free-kick was easily dealt with by Bartolo.

Msida had a Miguel Ciantar ball into the Stripes area cleared in time by Rowen Muscat as the second half got underway but barely a minute later Birkirkara levelled matters.

Galea received the ball just outside the Msida box and unleashed a powerful drive that flew past a surprised Bartolo.

Galea's goal sparked Birkirkara's revival and only two minutes later, the comeback was complete as Pulo ably turned past his marker before firing a grounder into the bottom corner of the net.

Msida looked stunned and on 58 minutes, Thomas Paris sped through but his effort at goal was stopped in two attempts by Bartolo.

The Saints were almost gifted an equaliser on 63 minutes when Emiliano Lattes profited from some poor defending by Branko Nisevic and Mora but his cross-shot hit the upright. Kalenga failed to hit home in front of a gaping goal.

At the other end, the woodwork denied Birkirkara when Bajada, who had just replaced Alan Tabone, saw his shot deflected against the upright with Bartolo beaten.

Zammit urged his players to kill the match with a third goal and with 17 minutes left, he sent on Comvalius for Pulo.

Fourteen minutes from time, Bajada's centre found Galea who quickly laid the ball into the path of Vukanac but the latter fired over from routine distance.

There were very few scoring chances in the closing stages with the Stripes opting to control their lead and preserve a hard-earned victory against modest opponents.

Msida St Joseph: M. Bartolo-6, A. Farrugia-6.5, M. Borda-5.5, T. Farrugia-6.5, R. Baldacchino-5.5, Z. Levnaic-6, A. Spiteri-6.5 ('79 A. Formosa), K. Mifsud-6, M. Ciantar-6, E. Lattes-6.5, N. Kalenga-6.

Birkirkara: J. Mora-6, T. Cilia-6.5, R. Muscat-6 ('78 R. Scicluna), N. Vukanac-6.5, B. Nisevic-5, C. Mamo-6, T. Paris-6, K. Pulo-6.5 ('73 S. Comvalius), P. Fenech-5.5, M. Galea-7, A. Tabone-5.5 ('66 S. Bajada-6).

Referee: Alan Mario Sant.

Yellow cards: Mifsud; Cilia; A. Farrugia; T. Farrugia; Scicluna; Nisevic; Bajada.

BoV player of the match: Karl Pulo (Birkirkara).