Birkirkara 3 Sliema Wanderers 0

Both Sliema and Birkirkara were looking to re-establish themselves as championship contenders after a rather poor start to the season, especially by the Blues.  Birkirkara began immediately on the attack with a couple of shots by Bajada well saved by Agius in the opening two minutes.

On 8 minutes, Sliema had their first chance when a shot on the turn by Failla went just over the bar. On 10 minutes, a cross by Ciantar found Comvalius who alone in the box headed badly wide. On 14 minutes, Sliema had a glorious chance to move ahead when Woods lobbed a pass to Mifsud Triganza who beat the offside trap but his comclusion went well wide of the goalpost.

The Stripes also came close on 20 minutes when some good work on the left by Joseph Zerafa resulted in a cross to Galea who shot immediately but Agius saved in extremis. The goal was not long in coming as on 23 minutes Shaun Bajada passed to Trevor Cilia whose low stinging shot easily beat Agius. And in a double whammy, Birkirkara went two up when from a cross by the indefatigable Cilia, Galea rose to head home to put the Stripes two goals to the good.

The Birkirkara show was not over however as two minutes later it was 3-0 with Comvalius shooting past Agius with the Sliema defence dumbstruck. On 32 minutes, Failla had a rising shot which ended up just over the crossbar as the Blues attempted desperately to salvage something out of the encounter.

On 46 minutes, substitute Isaac came close with a good header which went just wide after a cross by Muscat. The game then went through a period of absolute quiet until on 72 minutes, Tabone had a stinging shot that went just wide of the post with Agius beaten as Birkirkara looked to add to their tally.

There were no other scoring occasions as Birkirkara simply ran down the clock to register an easy victory and rise joint second with Valletta at least for around 24 hours.

Birkirkara FC: Mora, Nisevic, Fenech, Cilia, Galea, Vukanac, Bajada (Paris), Zerafa, Comvalius (Muscat), Buhagiar, Mallia (Tabone)

Sliema Wanderers FC: Agius, Azzopardi, Mifsud, Fenech, Scerri, Mifsud Triganza, Gatt Baldacchino (Isaac), Woods (Bartolo), Dronca (Muscat), Ciantar, Failla

Referee: Adrian Casha

Scorers: Cilia 23’, Galea 24’, Comvalius 26’

Yellow cards: Mifsud Triganza, Scerri

BOV Player of the Match: Trevor Cilia (Birkirkara)


 

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