'Stripes' cruise past Qormi yet again

by Matthaeus Grasso - 16th April 2010

With a wonderful show of creative and flowing football, Birkirkara have managed to beat Qormi for the fourth time this season, thanks to a massive 3-1 victory.

With loads of speculation about the possibility of our team dropping points against the 'Qriema' circulating all around Malta, the Birkirkara players went on the pitch determined to silence the critics. With the enormous help of the Birkirkara Ultras and the rest of the supporters in the encloseur, the desired result came, and as from five minutes after the end of the match, Valley Road became the venue of loud and crazy celebrations from our supporters who celebrated yet another important victory.

Luckily enough, Mr.Paul Zammit had no selection worries, as all of his players were fit and available to feature in his plans.

Both teams shares possession in the opening part of the match, and both seemed to search for the best way how they could penetrate the opposing defense. A spirited Qormi side, relishing the prospect of achieving third spot, had a good chance of opening the score through Camillo Da Silva, but Jorge Mora was in no mood to concede at such an early stage of the encounter.

Birkirkara's attacking attempts were being constantly cleared-away by the Qormi defensive department, and when any of our strides seemed too dangerous, they opted to foul our players rather than giving them any opportunity to score. A typical scenario happened on the 21st minute, when Paul Fenech was fouled just outside the left-hand side of the penalty area. Up stepped Sylvano Comvalius who let go an unstoppable direct free-kick, which bent away from the Farrugia and into the net. The Birkirkara half of the enclosure was now in total delirium.

Matthew Bartolo, on loan from Sliema W. could have leveled matters soon after, but thankfully again, there was Jorge Mora who solved the situation.

Experienced striker and captain Michael Galea, made best use of the amount of years he has played in the Premier League, when he stole the ball from the Qormi players in midfield and ran a couple of meters before feeding a wonderful through ball to Trevor Cilia, who on the 29th minute managed to speed past ex-Valletta player Jonathan Bondin, before slotting the ball in the net. The atmosphere in the stadium was given yet another boost.

With our team now focusing more on possession, and with Qormi attempting a one-off attacking stride, 'the Stripes' were clearly showing that the opponents had to create something special for them to take any points from the match.

As a perfect half-time gift to the supporters, Trevor Cilia, after being served by an excellent Sylvano Comvalius, managed to strike a fierce shot towards the opposing net, which beat Farrugia for the third time in the match.

The half-time whistle found an in-form Birkirkara team leading by three goals.

In the second-half, Qormi started to press a little bit further, and had a glorious chance to reduce the deficit through Alfred Effiong, who found himself lurking alone in the penalty area, but somehow, the foreigner failed to put the ball into the net.

The Birkirkara defense seemed to lapse in concentration on some occasions, and it was Effiong again who missed another good chance to score, before Massimo Grima unleashed a spectacular drive from way outside the penalty area, with the ball sailing in the net. The Qormi supporters, accompanied by those of Valletta, were now experiencing a bit of hope that they can salvage something from the game.

Yet another ex-Valletta player featuring in the match was Stefan Giglio who was introduced late in the match. The veteran midfielder went close to scoring the second goal for his team, but his ferocious shot rattled the crossbar and went over.

There was still time for a last push by Qormi, as Camillo's corner-kicks seemed to create some danger in our 11-yard box, but nothing really fruitful ever came out of them, as 'the Stripes' managed to hold on for a remarkable 3-1 victory.

With just three matches left to play, Birkirkara are currently in pole position, seven points ahead of Valletta, but with the latter having a game in hand, as today they face champions Hibernians.

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